The Gallaway Revolution
by CantThinkOfAGoodPenName
Summary: An original story, no journeys or brand new trainer stuff. This is a quality writing with a carefully crafted plot designed to be worth your time if you can grasp the history involved. Wow, chapter 9 is finally up! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**A/N: Since I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment, I thought I might revamp this story that I started a long time ago and post it before I get started on something better. Enjoy everyone! **

**Chapter 1: The Beginning  
**

Evening fell. The sunset illuminated the valley of Gallaway and the vast skies all over and the plains below. From high up on top of a specific cliff, one could observe the beauty of Gallaway valley. It was colorful of grass and grain, which stretched out for hundreds of kilometers, only to be halted by a forest that seemed to go on to the ends of the Earth. It was a sight that would make any traveler feel like he was in heaven. People have been known to pay a fortune to come to this very spot, arguably the most beautiful location in the world.

On top this cliff sat Ash Ketchum as he ended his travel for a long-awaited break. Pikachu sat next to him, where they both eyed the view and enjoyed the silence for what seemed like forever. The wind blowing gently against the leaves of nearby trees and its brushing the grass combined with the sounds of exotic wildlife were the key features of the serenity of the environment.

"Well, this was definitely worth the risk, coming out all this way. Not only did we pick the perfect spot, but we couldn't have chosen a more ideal time," said Ash, leaning back. Pikachu affirmatively responded. After a few more moments of enjoying the scenery, Ash stood up. "Alright, we need to get going. It's starting to get late, and we cannot afford to stay out much longer. We are bound to be discovered." He glanced around, looking for any sign of trouble.

Ash spoke this way as if the very thing he was doing was somehow forbidden. The cliff on which he stood was far past the Kanto/Gallway border. He was deep into the country of Gallaway. People from Kanto rarely ventured into this country without citizenship.

Gallaway had a very unique reputation amongst people outside the country. The people of Gallaway did not take kindly to foreigners traveling into the territory. Any sign of any foreigner spelled trouble in the minds of Gallawain citizens. They saw foreigners as a threat to their ways of living. Therefore, it was not uncommon for the law enforcers of the country to take prisoners, or, if they felt it necessary, take out the foreigner on site if he or she seemed the least bit dangerous.

Hostilities between Gallaway and Kanto spawned over three decades before the present time. Everything began with an organization of rebels whose views were centered around the abolition of the modern lifestyle. Ever since the meteorite hit the earth 47 years ago, causing the rapid evolution of animals into what people know as pokemon, people took it upon themselves to make pokemon training and raising a dominant part of the modern lifestyle. It was a new era of time that the rebels did not appreciate. The self-proclaimed philanthropists dedicated their lives to restoring the earth back to it's original state.

After years of surveying the changed lands, dedicated members of the philanthropist organization found a secluded section of land where wildlife remained unaffected by the radiation that was caused by the moonstone. The rebels expanded to form a secret society of people all over the world. Headed by a famous political leader, Johnathon Gallaway, the rebels started a revolutionary movement. Since the rebel organization consisted of around 100,000 people at the beginning of the movement, there were enough people willing to fight for their cause that war ensued. The wars that commenced during this time period led to the assassination of Johnathon Gallaway by Kanto's pokemon special ops forces. Despite this shortcoming, the rebels had an army that consisted of most of Kanto's war veterans and experienced enlisted soldiers who were all in favor of reviving the earth and bringing it back to normal, regardless of what the opposition had to say. Because Kanto and it's neighboring countries had reached a golden age, they hardly had anyone dedicated to any kind of armed forces organization. There were too many people wrapped up in their own adventures with their pokemon, and there were too many self centered people to care about the general good of the public. Because of this, the Gallawain army was easily able to overcome what little Kanto had to defend itself. Even with help from some allied countries, Kanto could not withstand the opposing forces. The assassination of Gallaway was one of the only accomplishments that Kanto could be proud of. At the end of the war, the Kanto government agreed to sign a peace treaty along with allied nations of the world. Part of the agreement on Allies' side was to sacrifice a small portion of each nation's land to the rebels. After redrawing the borders, the rebels used this land to form their own country, and Gallaway was added to the world map. The top executives of the rebel organization – which consisted mainly of lawyers, senators, and well known political figures – agreed to set up a dictatorship form of government for the new country. However, the assassination of Gallaway brought up large amounts of conflict among the leaders of the government, as there was no suitable leader that a majority of the citizens could agree upon. Therefore, it was decided that in honor of Johnathon Gallaway, the country would be named Gallaway after their dedicated leader, and that a democracy would be formulated into the governmental plan. As of now, the government stands in solid opposition to the rest of the world.

Keeping up with the latest news, Ash knew the risks of coming into the Gallaway territory. He was willing to take these risks because his sense of adventure overcame his desire for his own safety. As overconfident as he was, he could not help but put his life on the line to experience the greatest adventures the world had to offer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Ash turned his back to the now almost completely set sun. A flash of green was visible before darkness began to settle in. It was truly a sight to see.

"Okay, let's get going." Ash started for the trail that was a few meters ahead. Pikachu scampered after him. They were engulfed in a satisfying silence once again, only interrupted occasionally by their own footsteps in the grass.

Suddenly, the silence was broken with a loud slice. Pikachu cried out in pain. Ash's peaceful moment was shattered immediately as he spun around, completely startled. After observing what happened, he nearly fell backwards in fear.

Ash stared in horror at what appeared to be a bear trap clamped around Pikachu's leg, only this one was a lot smaller, probably for catching things smaller than bears. He rushed to the ground to help free Pikachu from the trap. After much effort, it was easy to tell that the spiked clamp had dug into Pikachu's leg quite deeply and was not about to get loose.

"Sounds like I got something!" a voice cried out from far behind Ash. He was taken by surprise yet again. He fell back as he spun around to see a large countryman standing about five meters behind him. The stranger was wielding a shotgun with barrels that shone in the setting sun so brightly that it nearly blinded Ash.

"Well, it looks like me traps are affectin' more than just my game today. Here, let me help you get him out of that." The man bent down and easily opened the trap. Pikachu squirmed free, grasping his bloody leg. He gave the man a look of grateful appreciation. Ash looked up at the man, about to show his own appreciation. He hesitated as the man suddenly withdrew a small gun fron his pocket and aimed it at the pikachu in front of him. Apparently an advanced single-shot gun, he pushed a small sliding switch on the back of the gun with his thumb which appeared to ready the shot for firing.

"Sir, would you please step aside while I finish of this little bugger? Don't worry, he's not goin' anywhere with that leg, so you don' have to worry about him gettin' away," said the man as he took careful aim, "just step aside for one second." Pikachu's expression of gratitude changed to a look of hate as he growled and bared his teeth. He was not about to give up his life just like that.

Ash immediately got up and jumped in front of the man and his gun holding out his arms.

"What? No! He's mine!" Ash exclaimed fearfully. He wasn't very confident in what he said, as he was directly in front of a gun with a trigger-happy person on the firing side. His legs were trembling, but he stood as firm as he could.

"What's that you say? He belongs to you?" The man lowered his gun. "Now that's disappointing." He examined Pikachu from where he stood with a doubtful look on his face. "Ah well, it's not like he deserved a spot on my wall or anything, he's just a little runt anyway."

Ash slowly backed up and picked up Pikachu, not turning his back to or losing eye contact with the stranger.

"A runt?" Ash was about to retort, but he held his peace to keep from further provoking the man, causing him to change his mind about holding fire. He stood up straight and held Pikachu in his arms, careful not to do any more damage to his wound. "Wait a second… are you a—"

"Hunter? Yep, that's what I am. The name's Jeremy." He held out a hand in effort to gain some of Ash's trust. Ash glanced at Jeremy's hand and then back up at his eyes. He reluctantly accepted his handshake. Jeremy was easily three heads taller than Ash, obviously in his mid twenties. He looked like a full fledged countryman. The hard country accent was more than enough to give away the fact that he was Gallawain. He wore tattered green pants and a beat up white shirt as well. His hard brown boots were accompanied with sockless feet. On top of all that he had a very muscular build to his body.

"Well, foreigner, I am really sorry about that, if there's anything I can do help fix this situation…" Ash quickly interrupted: "Do you have any medical supplies? I obviously need some of those." Ash broke eye contact with the man to glance at the path that was just past Jeremy. Pikachu squirmed in pain in Ash's arms.

"Sorry, I don't have anything on me—" Ash interrupted again, but this time in a more hurried fashon.

"Then please, let me get back on the trail so I can get to a pokémon health clinic." Jeremy did not move. He instead pointed down the trail.

"The Kanto/Gallaway border is about fifteen kilometers thataway. I can assure you there are no such health clinics anywhere in this land. Now I doubt that the little guy is gonna make it all the way back there. He's losin' a lot of blood you see. Tell you what, I'll escort you to my town which isn't too far from here. From there I reckon you can get him to one of the local vets. It's the least I can do for the trouble."

Ash was ready to bolt down the path towards the Kanto/Gallaway border. He was not about to trust any man in this area. Jeremy was a Gallawain, he was not one to be trifled with, especially since he was a hunter carrying a shotgun. Disregarding all odds against him and Pikachu, he figured he would take his chances heading for the border.

"I know what you're thinking. I'm a Gallawain, and not to be trusted, and I understand that you may think that. I'm a hunter, and I'm also a ranger. But I can at least assure you that I am not like every other ranger around here. Unlike many of the others, I am for keeping the peace between Kanto and Gallaway. I don't take prisoners and I don't kill foreigners who wander across the border, contrary to the common practice help in these parts.

Now listen to me, what chances do you think you have to avoid all the other rangers that may or may not be in this area. Even if the little guy makes it, if you get caught, you're done for."

After reconsidering, Ash decided that Jeremy presented a very good argument. If he were to stay alive, it would be most ideal to take Jeremy's suggestion and follow him back to town. Ash reluctantly nodded and Jeremy gave a short laugh. He turned around and strode back to the path. Ash quietly followed.

**Chapter 2.5**

Evening had just settled in. The sky grew darker as they traversed the valley at a very subtle rate. As they traveled, Ash noted the vast differences between Kanto and Gallaway. He noticed a great variety of plants and animals that he had never seen before in Kanto. This was one of the many reasons he came down this way in the first place, to get a glimpse of all the rare and exotic species of plants and animals that were rumored to be in Gallaway. At least now these rumors have been verified in his mind.

"Those little critters you see there are all native to this area. They have been untouched by the plague of radiation that the meteor from space induced upon this world. Even though the radiation didn't hit a lot of parts of the world, the mutated creatures you people like to call pokémon spread all over the world. This is one of the few places where wildlife native to this world still exists. Gallaway has been it's sole protector for over two decades now." Jeremy seemed to enjoy explaining the history of the world to Ash as they traveled back to town.

"So what's to stop pokémon from invading this area?" Ash muttered quietly, not expecting Jeremy to hear. He was not in a talkative mood. After all, he just risked his life trying to save another from the very person who was trying to befriend him and lead him to safety. Regardless, Jeremy did hear Ash's muttering and responded more cheerfully this time.

"Us rangers are what's keepin' those pests from comin' into our land. We hold hunts every now and then when the balance of nature gets a little out of hand. You just caught then very end of one. I think it just ended about ten minutes ago. Anyway, as rangers, we dedicate our lives to keep the balance of nature and to keep our lands safe from those nasty creatures outside our border." Ash was beginning to resent Jeremy more and more. He figured he should stop asking questions. But as his arms kept dripping blood and Pikachu kept squirming every now and then, he figured that learning about the culturistic differences and a little history would keep his mind off of things at least a little.

"So, let's say you did finish off Pikachu and I wasn't there, what would you do with him then? Leave him there?" Ash asked this a little more confidently this time.

"Most of us just leave them there to be consumed by decomposition. This is another thing that separates me from everyone else. If it were me, I would have skinned him and added his hide to my collection!" Ash nearly hurled at the thought of skinning something. "You… _collect_… _hides?_"

"Yessir, and I rather enjoy it. Not only is it fashionable, but it's very profitable. These things sell for a lot of money on the internet. Now that I think about it, your little friend there would have made a decent amount. What with all the shiny fur and—"

"Alright, alright, I get it." Ash became more and more eager to change the subject. "Actually, I am pretty surprised that this kind of stuff actually goes on…" Jeremy laughed to himself as if what Ash said was crazy.

They soon passed into a clearing.

"We're almost there son. Keep it up."

"Ash, call me Ash, not son please," Ash said, annoyed.

"Ash, eh? Short for Ashley I imagine. You people really are backwards over there," Jeremy let out a laugh.

"What!"

"Take it easy, I'm just trying to keep your spirits up." Jeremy became more annoyed at the sign that Ash wasn't enjoying his humor.

It was another five minutes before they finally arrived at the entrance to the town. The town was incredibly run down, and did not seem to be modern in any way whatsoever. The roads were all made of dirt, the houses in the area from what Ash could see were all made of wood. Only a few official looking buildings seemed to be constructed of stone. Ash saw no cars on the road, just people. There were kids playing in the street and parents working on various tasks on their porches, which were all supported with very unprofessional looking architecture. Ash had never seen a more mundane town or city anywhere in his life.

"Welcome to my hometown!'' exclaimed Jeremy. "I reckon it's got to be the most technologically advanced town around. We've got the greatest network of communications, by far the most advanced computers, and most definitely the sharpest minds in all of Gallaway to back up our wonderful technology." After hearing this, Ash couldn't imagine the poor conditions the other towns of Gallaway were facing. Poverty seemed to be abundant here, but it certainly didn't keep Jeremy away from denial.

"I certainly don't see anything special about this place. I don't see a single machine or device around that resembles a machine, and I haven't seen anything that looks remotely advanced in technological terms" was what Ash would have liked to say, but he bit his tongue in hesitation. Jeremy seemed to read his mind. "I know what you're thinking. This place is nothing compared to the kinds of rigs you'd see in Kanto. I assure you, there is nothing here to be disappointed about. We get along just fine with our machines, which, by the way, are all kept indoors away from the weather."

"Alright, whatever," said Ash impatiently, "please tell me where I need to go."

"Be wary that many people here that see you with a pokémon will resent you. Many people do not take kindly to being forced into the presence of those things. Just try your best to walk past them. Oh, and the direction you need to go is thataway." Ash nodded. He continued down the road in the direction that Jeremy instructed. A few meters down the road, he realized that Jeremy wasn't walking with him. He quickly spun around.

"Jeremy, aren't you coming?"

"Coming? No, I need to get back to the award ceremony, I need to find out who won that tournament. They should be announcin' it very soon."

"But, the vet!"

"Kiddo, you won't find a vet in this town willin' to help you for any price. They'll see you and throw you out and put down your buddy just like that."

"… Then _what_ did I come all this way for! What a waste of time!" Ash nearly threw up his arms in disappointment, but Pikachu warned him not to. "You told me you'd be taking me to a place where I could—."

"Hey, I never told you that I would be takin' you anywhere except this town, the

vet is your responsibility. It just so happens, however, that this town lies close to the border of Kanto and Gallaway. Just head down this road out of town, and you won't be bothered if people see you leaving. Further down this road is a town on Kanto's side of the border. I'm sure you can find what you're looking for down there."

"… So that's it then…" Ash glared at Jeremy, who had a smug look on his face. He walked about ten steps, not losing eye contact with Jeremy until then, and he turned and ran down the road at a full sprint.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Evening took its toll on the sky. The sun had completely set, shrouding this part of the world in darkness.

"Come on Trance! It's time to come in! Dinner is waiting!"

Suppressing the emotional dissatisfaction with his own mother's attitude, Trance immediately put down his equipment and started down the driveway.

Trance Enphernium, even at age 16, was constantly sheltered by his mother. There was every reason in the world for Trance to be sick to death of the way his mother treated him. Every single day it was nag, do this, nag, do that, to no end. She constantly monitored his activity day in and out wherever he was except for school. Fortunately, Trance knew that respect for his mother came first, and that once he was on his own it would all end.

"Alright mother, coming!" Trance tossed aside his shouldered rifle and jogged down the driveway and up to the porch. His mom did not go inside until Trance had entered the house before her.

"Smells delicious. What is it?" Trance entered the kitchen and saw a neatly decorated table for two. "Wow, it's my favorite. I'll bet it's in celebration for tomorrow isn't it." He smiled.

"Yes dear, after all, tomorrow is the beginning of a new life for you."

"It's going to be so awesome. Not only is father coming home tomorrow, but I'll be getting my ranger license." Trance was very enthusiastic about the following day. He was anticipating the privileges that would be bestowed upon him at the acquisition of his ranger license.

Heather, wife of Sean Enphernium, was just as excited at the thought of seeing his son become a man.

Sean Enphernium, head of the local district's ranger organization, was currently on a mission of peace in South Africa. This "peace" mission was centered around a country-wide hunt that was sponsored by the authorities of the South African country. Observing successful efforts at worldwide reform on the society level, the government officials agreed to hold a national hunting tournament, where two of the top sharpshooters of Gallaway would face off against two of the best sharpshooters of South Africa. Sean was chosen to participate in the tournament because his skills at handling a gun were currently unmatched by anyone else in the country. Accompanying him was his most trusted "deputy," who he believed would be able to support him both on the hunting grounds and through moral support as well. By winning the tournament, Sean would not only hold one of the highest recognitions among the philanthropists, he would also help strengthen the power of Gallaway. If the representatives of Gallaway were victorious in the hunt, the government officials of South Africa would surrender the entirety of their land to Gallaway and allow Gallaway to annex the territory as part of the Gallawain nation. Everyone on both sides had little doubt that Sean would lose the tournament. Overall, this would be a great victory for Gallaway if everything went well.

"It would be a great thing for us if father wins the tournament," said Trance.

"It certainly would. Not only would our nation strengthen greatly, but we would be one step closer to returning this world to normal." Heather was a strong supporter of the movement. As a district representative, she worked hard to represent the opinions of not only herself, but of everyone in the local district.

Heather sat herself down at the table to begin the meal. She stood up immediately realizing that the current table decorum consisted of everything but napkins. The lack of napkins nearly enraged her, as she thought she had set everything up perfectly. She headed over to the cabinet where the napkins were stored. As she reached up to grab the container of napkins, she spied something outside as she glanced out the window.

What she saw was most peculiar, because it was not a sight seen often.

"What is it mother?"

"There's someone running down the street." Heather had a worried look on her face. "The boy might get hurt. It's so dark out. He may become abducted by someone."

"He's probably heading home. Doesn't he live down the street?" Trance had joined his mother at the window, curious enough to see what was going on. "I don't recognize him."

Taking a closer look, Heather saw exactly what was going on.

"Oh my. He's carrying an animal. It looks like a cat. And it looks badly injured." She headed for the door.

"Do you think that he's running to the vet?" Trance inquired.

"I would assume so… but wow, that's quite a trip. It's at least another kilometer away. Maybe we should go help him." Heather abruptly opened the door and was about to run after the boy when Trance grabbed her arm.

"Wait a second. That's not a cat. I've seen that animal before… I'm certain that we studied it in biology. I think foreigners call it a… pike-a something."

"Oh my God, Trance, you're right. That boy is carrying a pokémon." Heather shut the door in front of her and headed back for the dinner table. She sat down quickly enough with a disgusted look on her face. Trance stood at the doorway. "Well are you coming?"

"But mother—"

"Trance! Don't even think about it. We are _not_ going to help a foreigner."

"Mother! We can't just leave him! What if the thing attacks him? He might be killed! I have to say that I don't agree with you or the police on this one."

"Trance, you know that the law is the law. We cannot just stand by and let foreigners invade our country! I've told you this over and over. Foreigners are a danger to our society. You of all people should understand this as a ranger in training." Heather reached beside her and picked up the cordless phone mounted on the wall. She dialed the police and took a bite of the food on her plate. Trance slowly joined her. He gazed at the threshold at which he lost sight of the boy carrying the strange creature. He could not help but think what he could have done to help out. It was only a boy. It was not as if he was trying to harm anyone by crossing the border. Regardless, Trance understood society's laws and knew that tomorrow he would have to live by them, whether he liked them or not. Although he did not agree completely with the law, he knew that most of the laws made sense and that if he were to be successful, he would have to promote these laws through his own actions.

"Hello, I would like to report a foreigner sighting by our house… yes, that's the address… alright thank you." Heather returned the phone to the receiver and continued eating. Trance continued eating as well.

"Tastes good."

"Thank you dear."


	4. Chapter 4: Contemplation

**Chapter 4: Contemplation of Life**

Trance headed upstairs about two hours after his dinner. It was around 10:00, a time when Trance usually found himself in front of the television watching his favorite comedy. Tonight was not going to be one of them. According to his mom, he had to get to bed early to prepare for his ceremony the following day, which happened to be at 6:00 in the evening. He felt that this notion about early bedtimes was ridiculous. After all, he could go to bed at 4 in the morning, sleep until 2:00 in the afternoon and still have plenty of time to get ready. Trance was not about to argue, he had his own reasons for getting to bed.

Trance had many things to think about. For one thing, he was incredibly confused about the ways in which he lived his life, and he had questions about why society functioned the way it did. He planned to spend the next hour or so contemplating these issues in his head. Trance did not attempt to talk to his parents often enough about this subject. His mother lacked the desire to contemplate life at all. Other times, he either had too much schoolwork to do, which was what consumed most of the quality time with his father in the first place, or his father was away on missions and business trips, or he simply forgot at the convenient times. Because of this, he spent time thinking about these issues when he was alone or in bed trying to get to sleep.

If there was one thing that Trance hated more than anything, it was lack of understanding. He felt like he always had to understand what was going on around him. In order to understand the bigger things around him, he often had to broaden the things in which he understood. One of the broadest things he could ponder was life itself. By understanding life, he could understand purpose, and he could understand reason to live. Most people never achieve a complete understanding of life, but that never stopped Trance from trying.

Tonight, he wanted to focus on his purpose as a ranger. The most important thing going on in his life was the ranger position he was about to receive. Many questions circled around his head. To these questions he formulated answers. This time around, the process was more intense than normal. Getting in bed, Trance realized this would be a more difficult thing to contemplate. Thinking to himself became more and more difficult as he progressed through his life:

"Why in the world am I becoming a ranger in the first place?"

"I know that I have been working for this my whole life. I have had the reason to do this embedded in my mind ever since I started this journey in life."

"I want to help daddy? What kind of reason is that? There's got to be something more."

"You know what it is."

"But, I don't know if it's the right thing to do! How do I know if what I am doing is right?"

"There are a lot of missing variables."

"I need answers! I need to know what I am getting myself into…"

"I want to help out my country. I want to help set things right in the world. I want to bring change."

"But I know nothing about what I am trying to change."

"School hasn't taught me anything about what goes on outside this country. It's like a form of—"

"Not propaganda, just a light concealment of the facts. They want me to believe that I have the absolute answer to the world's troubles. By bringing an end to the radical fanaticism that is contained within each and every pokémon trainer, I would be doing the world justice. I would be preserving what was originally created on our planet and what truly deserves to exist on earth."

"… but there is another problem. What I would be committing myself to would just cause more problems in this world. I would be escalating the war. I would be another catalyst in the reaction. I don't know if I want that."

"That is correct, but every solution has its flaws. Yes, there is going to be war, but how else is Gallaway going to achieve its goal? Through persuasion? The rest of the world outnumbers us 10 to 1 at the very best, and the rest of the world consists entirely of pokémon fanatics. They will laugh at us if we try to convince them that they're wrong just because we think so. War is the only solution."

"But we're marching into countries that have no way to defend themselves. And, we are attempting to take them over."

"They have pokémon"

"But that's not the point. If we go and take over every country in the world and force them to change their lives completely… we'd be no better than any imperialist government from the past. Hell, we'd be no better than Hitler's army trying to change the world so that they will accept and live by how we choose. We'd be eradicating what we blame to be society's weakness, just as Hitler did to the Jews. I don't know, it just sounds too evil to me."

"But we'd be doing what's best for the world. I don't think it's the same thing either. They're exploiting the powers of other animals. They're the ones committing the atrocities."

"Not necessarily. They are giving them love and support. Is it not true that almost every trainer loves his or her pokémon?"

"They are forcing pokémon to do their bidding, whatever it may be! There are also organizations that use them for evil. Regardless, it's a total mess out there. Too many creatures are being forced to do things against their own will. I guess that's another problem. They promote slavery. Slavery is wrong! It must be stopped! This should be the deciding factor right here. I am now satisfied with my reasons to bring the world back to the way it originally was."

"But wait a second… there are still pokémon out there who love the way they live, even in captivity. They love doing whatever they do with their trainers and owners. It's not like every one of them has a huge problem with being captured."

"But I don't know that for a fact."

"Even so, it would be wrong to go on severing those good relations. Besides, there is more than one scenario here. Gallaway as a whole decided that it would be best to live the way we do. Kanto and the rest of the world decided what would be best for them. For some reason, they believe that life can be best lived when people have pokémon at their sides, doing their bidding. It's hard to understand why, but that's probably because I was raised differently."

"Additionally, there are those who enjoy living out in the wild. Why should we go and murder innocent animals?"

"Trance! Don even go there! The whole idea here is to eliminate what has poisoned our land! That should be reason enough!"

"They poisoned our land? Their ancestors were once Terran animals. It happened as a result of a freak mutation caused by that meteorite that hit the earth nearly fifty years ago. I don't see how this is poisoning our land. It's a spontaneous "evolution" of creatures… damnit I may be wrong about this whole thing. I just don't know enough!"

"Just remember the goal, I just need to keep reminding myself of the goal. Gallaway's rangers are dedicated to restoring life back to the way it originally was."

"… but it's just not right. I know, I am going by what I was taught, and my beliefs are centered around what I was taught as I grew up, based on what I have the most information on, but it just doesn't seem right to me."

"Wow, I have a decision to make, and I need to make it fast. Tomorrow is what decides it all for me."

"I can't turn my back on my parents, on society, and I certainly can't join these… poké_losers_. It seems I only have one choice."

"Or do I? I still have time to get more information. Maybe if I know enough about both sides to make a rational decision, I will feel better about what I choose to do."

"What the hell, I have what, tomorrow morning? I have less than five hours from then I wake up to learn everything about a whole new lifestyle. I don't even know where to start! I have no resources. There is hardly anything in this town that has any kind of information about living life in the rest of the world. It's hopeless. I have no choice at this point. If I change my mind with nothing to back myself up with, then I will look like a fool to all of society."

Trance flipped over in bed and closed his eyes in frustration. The room had been silent up until this point; the squeaking bed was an unwanted disturbance that nearly wrecked Trance's train of thought. Trance was incredibly nervous about the decision that he was about to make. Earlier, it all made sense to him. Everything seemed so perfect, and life was good up until he sat down for dinner. It was the sight of that boy that changed everything.

"Wait a second. _That's it!_" Trance shot up into a sitting position in his bed. "That kid is my solution. What if I found him and asked him what he thinks about life? He's got to have an idea about what he is doing with his life! I'll just find him at the vet tomorrow morning. It's not like he has anywhere to stay."

"What if he's not there?"

"If he's not there, I can at least start there and see if anyone has any information."

"Excellent!"

Proud that he found that there was some hope, Trance immediately went to sleep. All of his mother's excitement about his father's return, combined with the evening ceremony, might make it rather difficult to get up and out of the house early the next morning.

**A/N: Let me know how this is going. Is it too involved? Is it dramatic enough? Is it too long? Send whatever review you want. Just don't waste time flaming please.**


	5. Chapter 5: Seeking Answers

**Chapter 5: Seeking Answers**

Trance could hardly sleep. His anticipation grew as random dreams about what could have happened that following morning flew through his mind as he slept. He imagined finding the kid and seeing him asleep in the middle of the waiting room, awaking him as he entered. He also imagined having to look around the area, only to find him on top of a dumpster, hardly able to sleep due to the lack of hospitality that this town had to offer foreigners. At one point, he found himself imagining the boy dead in an alleyway behind the vet, but that was so ridiculous he woke up laughing. Trance could not help but contemplate every possibility of what to expect the next morning when he went seeking answers to questions he could conjure. He was unsure of what to ask this boy when he found him later that morning, assuming he actually manages to find him.

Trance awoke the next morning as early as he had planned. The sun was just rising, which meant that it was around 7:00. So far, everything seemed ideal for the miniature adventure on which he was about to embark. Surprisingly enough, his mother had not awakened yet. Obviously, he would have to move out silently as to avoid stirring up his plans. Trance changed quickly, and then equipped himself with his wallet as well as the unique sunglasses that his parents had sent him as an early graduation gift. What made these sunglasses so unique was that they contained built-in infrared scanners. Additionally, his name was engraved on the inside part of one of the earpieces. His grandparents had a knack for giving Trance the strangest gifts for the various occasions he had celebrated in his past. For some reason, they concluded that infrared sunglasses would somehow be useful for Trance to use in his everyday life. Sure, everyone has a pair of these on them when going to school; you never know when you will have to scan for heat signatures while learning algebra. Trance took these with him today because it was his only pair of sunglasses that was not lost or broken. On the bright side, the glasses were very stylish, the battery was weightless and lasted for hours, and they effectively doubled as expensive sunglasses anyway.

Heading out, Trance put on his stylish infrared sunglasses as if he were some important rich person on a business trip. Not intending to attract the attention of the neighbors who were retrieving the morning newspaper or doing some simple morning yard work, he heard calls of congratulations of his graduation as he walked down the sidewalk towards the vet.

The sun shone brightly that morning, signaling that it would be a beautiful day for the parade that would be occurring at noon. Trance soon entered the nicer part of town where there were no old houses that appeared to be victim of a depression, as there were back near his neighborhood. All of these buildings were professionally built and were in top condition, also infused with the latest technology. Even though Trance owned one of the nicer houses in the town, there were still many places in the bordering neighborhoods that could use some extreme renovation. He noticed that some streets were in the process of being blocked off and parade routes were being set up. Although nobody had yet arrived to get a decent spot, based on the number of people he saw getting ready on the way to the vet, there were certainly going to be quite a few people showing up within the next few hours. With the vet being very close to the parade route, Trance figured he would have to make this "interrogation" short if he was to avoid any trouble.

Approaching the entrance to the vet, Trance casually walked in as if he were just another customer. Inside, there were only two people waiting on business. Chairs lined the walls of the room, which was no bigger than half of a basketball court. In the center of the far end of the wall sat the receptionist desk. A young woman sat at the desk typing things on her computer. The soft clicks of the keys on the keyboard added an eerie ambience to the room. After quickly scanning the entire setup, he spied a third person in the back corner of the room. His head was hanging low and the brim to his hat was slightly covering his eyes. He closely resembled the boy that he could only vaguely remember the night before. There was no mistaking the red vest, unique cap, messy hair, and bright blue jeans. Although Trance never saw this person's face, it seemed to match his figure quite well. Trance was completely sure that this was who he was looking for. Not expecting this to be so easy, he smiled to himself and sauntered in the boy's direction. He sat down one chair apart from where the boy was located. This boy was either very shy, or a loner, or both, because he had no intention of making eye contact with Trance.

Before speaking, Trance eyed the other two people sitting across the room. Both were wearing business attire. One was reading the morning newspaper and the other was nervously looking around, catching a glimpse of his watch every few moments, and eagerly eyeing the receptionist. Trance innocently glanced at the boy next to him, then a few moments later, leaned in his direction.

"Um, excuse me..." Trance whispered in the boy's ear. He did not respond.

"Hey," he said a bit louder. The boy jumped up, completely startled. "So, what are _you_ here for?" The boy studied Trance for a moment and opened his mouth to respond. "I, uh, had a problem with my dog. He had... um, there was something wrong with his leg." Trance did not want to start off this conversation awkwardly. He had no intention of asking him something along the lines of whether or not he was sure that he has a dog, and maybe it's a "forbidden" creature. After all, that would be rather bogus. To steer this conversation effectively, he acted like he believed him and played along. "Oh, is it bad? I mean, my dog had to get one of her ribs fixed, as it was growing out of alignment, but… yours sounds worse, did he injure himself?"

"Um…" The boy tried to avoid further eye contact. "Kind of… I'd rather not talk about it." The boy's deep voice was somewhat intimidating, but Trance kept his ground. _I can't let this go on too long. I might start looking suspicious. Damnit! I should just go for it…_

This was a bad way to start, but he couldn't just turn back. Trance leaned over a tad bit more. He decided that if he were to get enough information out of this guy, he would need as much time as he could get, and he would have to start asking questions fast, so he took the risk:

Trance talked as quietly as he could without looking problematic. "Okay buddy, I know what kind of situation you're in right now. Believe me, I completely understand what is going on, and I can assure you that I know this is very serious." The boy stared at him in utter confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You aren't fooling anyone with your act. I see that belt of yours. It's unmistakably an authentic pokémon trainer belt. Although empty, those slots are used to hold those… um… compacting spheres of some sort." Trance said this in strong and bold manner, as if he knew exactly what he was talking about. Although, based on his knowledge of foreign technology, he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about; he knew nothing about trainer belts or the compacting technology used in pokéballs. Either way, his speaking was effective. The boy was convinced that Trance knew what he was hiding. It seemed as if there was nothing he could do to get out of it. Lying wouldn't work. If he tried to make it look as if he was starting a new fashion trend or something, Trance would just look at him as if he was an idiot. There was no fooling this guy. He turned his head forward and looked down.

"Alright, to tell you the truth, I am in one heck of a predicament right now," said the boy.

"I'll say. _How_ did you get all the way out here? More importantly, how did you get in here, and convince the people here to care for your injured pokémon?"

"Really, it's a long story…" He paused for a second. "To make it short and simple, I was exploring the area, looking for that famous spot that was rumored to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. As we were leaving, Pikachu stepped in some sort of clasping trap, which cut deep into his leg. Since I was so far from the border, I couldn't turn around without risking his life. Luckily for us, I found someone nice enough to escort me to this town. Then I found my own way to this vet." Trance stared at him in disbelief.

"It's incredible that you avoided attracting too much attention. You ran through most of the slums to get here, I can't believe nobody saw you." Trance did not realize that he was speaking at a normal volume again. The boy nodded slowly after hearing Trance say this. "So what's your name anyway?"

"Just call me Ash."

"Haha, like Ashley? Dang, you people really are backwards over there!" Trance laughed. "Sorry, just kidding. My name is Trance." Ash merely glared at him. He was not in a joking mood.

"Where was I? Oh yes, after I got here, I managed to convince that young woman over there to help me out. She said that I was lucky that the merciful veterinarian was working today. Apparently, pokémon are somewhat interesting to him, at least I think she said the mammals were what he was curious about. Does that sound weird to you?" Trance ignored that last remark, as if nobody around here really cared for pokémon anyway, mammal or not.

"So, let me guess, they reluctantly agreed to fix him up on the condition that you keep quiet about it?"

"Exactly. I also had to do a few… favors for the girl at the desk." Ash winked at Trance.

"You have got to be kidding me." Raising an eyebrow, Trance assumed the worst from that statement. Ash laughed Trance's reaction.

"Apparently I was really good at it, considering I had no experience with it before. She seemed to be very pleased."

"Wow, you're what… _sixteen_? Aren't you a little young for that?"

"Seventeen thank you very much. I'm old enough! Wait…" Ash's voice turned lower than it already was. "You're thinking… _no way!_ Trance, I drove her to the store down the street!" Overhearing this rather odd conversation, the receptionist looked at Ash and Trance and laughed.

"Ash, you were the one who made it sound so wrong! Seriously though, I had my license suspended, and because _everyone_ knows about it, _and_ since there was nobody else who could drive, I figured Ash could do it for me. By the way, I'm Tanya. Nice to meet you Trance." Tanya directed a charming smile in Trance's direction.

"And you let him drive, having never driven before." Trance was in disbelief. "Wow, you people…" Suddenly, Trance heard footsteps approaching. This was another thing he could assume the worst about.

"I guess we have yet another reason to take you in now," said a voice from right beside them. One of the men who used to be sitting had gotten up and walked over to Trance and Ash's location without the two noticing until it was too late. "My name is Inspector Raymond. I'm from the National Investigations Department, and I'm here to take you in." Apparently someone had seen Ash after all. Either that or someone didn't like his hanging around the vet all night. Either way, one of the nation's top law enforcers was standing right in front of him.

Trance immediately stood up to face the man. "The National Investigations Department: a cheap spin-off of The United State's CIA, that's all it is, but with a whole lot less power. I didn't think you people had authority in public areas."

"What do you know about the law?" said the agent in a deep tone of voice.

"I know enough to know that you can't take him just like that. He's my brother and he's done nothing wrong. I came here to pick him up from—" said Trance. He was interrupted in mid-sentence.

"Step aside young man or you're going to join him. With reasonable suspicion, we can arrest anyone here _with_ or _without_ a warrant. _Also_, your alibis are bullshit. I was listening to your entire conversation. Plus…" He pulled out a device from under the cushion of the chair next to Trance. "I have it all on tape." Trance slowly stepped aside.

The agent then focused on Ash. "You're under arrest for illegal trespassing, unauthorized possession of illegal animals, and, according to your previous story, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle." Without hesitating, Ash jumped up, avoided the agent by dashing behind Trance, and raced out the door. The second man who was sitting down quickly got to his feet and both agents withdrew concealed handguns from inside the coat pockets of their suits. One of them also withdrew an earpiece from his collar and muttered something into a hidden microphone. Both agents then headed out the door. As they ran out the door, Trance saw both agents turn invisible. It was stealth camouflage. He had seen it before in school. One could embed this technology into any piece of clothing. Although since this specific design was meant for suits, Trance predicted that the agent's cloak would only last for a few minutes before having to recharge. He noted that it would be much harder to keep track of where the agents were. Trance quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from the receptionist desk and ran outside after them.

Seeing Ash run one way around the building with the invisible agents following him, Trance took the other way around. Since the building was square and surrounded by a six foot high wall on all sides but the front, Trance predicted he could intercept Ash on the closest rear corner of the building. He sprinted down the side of the building. Since he arrived before Ash, he took the time to write on the piece of paper that he took from the desk. He nearly finished his incredibly cursory sketch of the street path to his house when he saw Ash dart around the corner. He signaled Ash to meet up with him, holding out the sheet of paper. Ash ran up to Trance as fast as he could. As Ash was running, Trance put on his stylish infrared sunglasses and turned them on. He could barely see the two agents running behind the far wall. He had only a few seconds to get out of there. Ash made it to Trance's location in just a matter of seconds. Out of breath, he could hardly hear Trance's voice.

"Quick! Take this; it's directions to my house from here. If you make it, I'll meet you there late tonight. Don't worry about your pet. I'll take care of him." Ash responded affirmatively and nearly ripped the paper out of Trance's hand in haste. At this point, Trance saw that the two agents had come around the corner and aimed their guns while yelling "stop." At the same time, Trance made a run for the front of the building. Ash then made a giant leap and climbed over the wall. Bullets flew, nearly hitting both of them, and puncturing two holes in Trance's sleeve. He barely made it back the front of the building unscathed.

Looking back, he saw one of the agents climbing over the wall after Ash and another one coming in Trance's direction, attempting to go around the wall and intercept Ash's path if he decided to run back that direction as well. Hardly breaking a sweat, Trance headed back inside as he saw the agent run past Trance, glaring at him. "I'll be back for you," he said. Trance didn't give him a chance to suddenly turn around and get a hold of him. When he was certain the agent did not have him in his sight, he dashed back inside the veterinary office. He took off his sunglasses and ran up to the desk.

"Quick, I need that boy's pokémon," Trance said to Tanya.

Tanya quickly got out of her chair and approached Trance. "What are you thinking? You'll be caught! There are authorities everywhere! You can't run around the city carrying that thing!"

"I don't want them to have evidence of you breaking the law. Let me hide it in a backpack or something. I don't know what I will do with it then, but at least it will keep you and the company out of trouble."

"That boy Ash is probably never coming back. Let's just not take the risk, put it down, and be done with it. I'll bury it somewhere in the wilderness outside."

"_Kill it?_ You've got to be joking."

"Honey, it's lost a lot of blood. If it runs around during recovery it will just die anyway. Besides, who's to say it won't be blown apart by some person's shotgun if you let it go?" Trance stopped, he couldn't think of any way to convince this person that her logic was in some way flawed. At this point, he had not been able to ask Ash any questions about his life, so this was as good an opportunity as he will be able to get. Maybe if he was able to find something about this creature, he would still be able to understand both sides of the story. It was his best shot without risking never seeing either Ash or his pokémon again

"You still haven't convinced me that carrying it in a sack is a bad idea," said Trance.

"… Fine! Do whatever! It's not like it's my responsibility or anything." Tanya motioned Trance to follow her. They quickly made their way to one the clinic rooms beyond the waiting room. Inside the clinic room was a collection of cages stacked from floor to ceiling along the entire wall. Putting on a pair of rubber gloves, Tanya opened one of the top ones and pulled out a large yellow rodent with a well applied bandage on its leg. Half asleep, it hardly realized what was going on. Trance was startled at the sparks of electricity that emitted from its cheeks.

"This is a pikachu. Handle it with rubber gloves when it's sick or injured or it will most likely kill you," explained Tanya in a hurried manner, "I'll have to let Dr. Kim know that you're taking off with this guy. I don't think he's expecting any payment, as this was more of a research thing for his own benefit than anything else." Trance nodded. Tanya reached under the nearby examination table and pulled out a rubber sheet. She put the sheet on the table and set Pikachu on top. She told Trance to stay as she walked out of the room. Trance looked over at Pikachu, who was sitting, wobbling back and forth with his eyes half open.

"Wow, this is going to be interesting. Um, hey little guy…" He reached out to pet him. Tanya reentered the room holding a backpack. She quickly grabbed Trance's arm. "Don't touch it without antistatic shielding! Electricity runs throughout his body. You don't want to risk a massive shock to your system." Letting go, she jammed the rubber sheet into the backpack so that it lined the entire bag as if it were an extra layer.

"Hey Pikachu," she said in a docile yet comforting tone, "this is Trance. He's going to help you get out of here. But if we are going to save you, you're going to have to ride in this." Pikachu nodded. Trance nearly toppled over. "It's as if he understood you or something!"

"Oh, right! Yeah, he understands English. Feel free to talk to him whenever you feel like talking." She laughed, "Ash was teaching me how to encourage the little guy last night. It's actually rather interesting… and amusing. You can talk to him as if he was another human, but all he can do to respond is with dialogue consisting of his name, or parts of it. So don't be surprised when he starts saying 'Pika' or whatever, because it sure surprised me!" Trance grinned at this. He certainly never expected to witness an animal speak something.

Tanya gently placed Pikachu into the backpack, who fit inside quite easily. Tanya zipped up the bag and left a little room for air. She then gave it to Trance, who struggled to put it on, being careful not to squeeze or bump anything too hard. Thanking Tanya profusely, he stepped out into the waiting room. Tanya did not follow. Instead, she headed further back into the building, probably where the head doctor's office was located. Trance headed outside and took cover in the corner of the outside wall. He made sure that nobody saw him leave the building by checking the entirety of his surroundings before heading out or moving to the next location.

Trance carefully made his way to the street where he could blend in with the various people beginning to assemble for the parade. Before he could make it, however, he heard the squeal of tires pulling up near the entrance of the veterinary building. He was far enough from the scene that if he turned away and walked casually, he would most likely go unnoticed. He saw many police officers emerge as four police vehicles parked in front of the building. Making sure not to act suspicious, Trance quickly made his way to the street and headed for his house. He got out with just enough time to spare, for if he had taken another minute in leaving, he would have been caught. This could have meant the end of his entire future. A ranger, even one in training, being found helping a foreigner escape the law and saving a pokémon was unheard of in Gallaway. Trance was putting his entire reputation on the line by doing what he was doing.

Even though he had evaded the wave of police and federal agents, Trance was not completely safe yet. He still had to arrive safely at his home. What's more, he had to explain to his mother where he had been all morning, and then he had manage to hide the pokémon and keep it alive for an indefinite amount of time. This would not be an easy task. The next few days would require extensive amounts of discipline. Although at this point in time, Trance felt ready to take on the world, so he was up for the challenge. Reaching for his sunglasses, he realized that they were not in his shirt pocket where he thought he had placed them. They weren't in any of his other pockets either. It was then that Trance realized that he had made a very grave mistake. _He had left them in the veterinary clinic._


	6. Chapter 6: The Parade

**Chapter 6: The Parade**

In haste, Trance made his way back home, forgetting about his sunglasses. He would have to get them at a later time. He did not want to return to the vet when there was a possibility that the authorities were scavenging the area for any clues to the crime committed. The problem with waiting, however was that if the authorities found his sunglasses before anyone else, they would be able to identify that he was the owner, as his name was engraved on the inside part of one of the frame's earpieces. At this point, he could only hope for the best.

He arrived at his house with minimal conflict. The only person that stopped him was a kid who admired Trance's backpack. Apparently he was carrying a very trendy version of the newest line of backpacks that was very popular among school kids. He did not have to bring up the backpack's contents, but he was trying to avoid contact with people as much as he could on his return home.

Walking up to the porch, Trance decided that it would be best to hide the animal in his back yard. The shed would be ideal for now, considering that its only use was to store lawn care devices. Since his father was away, _and_ since the yard was just done a few days ago, he did not foresee anyone making trips to the shed any time soon. Trance took a surgery mask from his garage and put it on over his face. He headed around back and traversed his yard over to the old shed. Since beyond his yard was just forest, he hid behind the shed so that nobody could see him from the house or from next door. Sitting down, he lowered the mask from his face, unzipped the backpack and found the pikachu inside to be mostly awake. It looked up at him with curiosity. He scooped up Pikachu, using the rubber lining for protection, and put him on the ground.

"Hey there," said Trance. Again, uncomfortable with the fact that he was talking directly to animals as if he were trying to have a conversation, he found it hard to find the right words to say. "I, um, brought you here to my house. I was, er… hoping to hide you here until your owner could come get you." Pikachu gave an affirmative nod. Trance was relieved that he could easily talk to Pikachu as if he were just another person. He became more confident with what he had to say.

"I don't know if you are aware, but you are in a country where pokémon are not respected for what they are. As a matter of fact, your kind is seen as a threat to our society." He sighed. "Anyway, I'm going to have to hide you in this shed until later tonight." Pikachu responded by tilting his head to the side and making a sound as if he was confused. Trance hesitated talking further. He did not know what Pikachu did not understand; the fact that he was not respected or why he was here in the first place, or maybe both, or possibly he understood it all and did not know what to say about it. He sighed again and smiled at Pikachu.

"The only reason I am helping you out myself is because… I don't know what is right in society and what is wrong, at least in terms of people's lifestyles. Gallawains believe that Pokémon have corrupted the world's wildlife, but everyone else seems enjoy the change, and they believe that taking advantage of these creatures for their own benefit is an acceptable way of life." Trance paused for a moment. "Look, as of this afternoon I will be a ranger, and my primary job will be to exterminate animals like you." Pikachu gave a quick look of fear and disgust at Trance. "But, don't worry, I've been thinking for a while, and I am wondering if this is the right way to go about life. I mean, you don't seem so bad." Pikachu's expression changed to a satisfied look. "I just want to make sure that what I do is absolutely the right thing for this world." Pikachu walked up to Trance and sat down in front of him. Apparently, the bandage had helped him recover enough to move freely again. "People should have a right to live however they want, as long as what they do doesn't negatively affect society as a whole. And yet, Gallawains believe that you all affect society in a negative way. The thing is, we only make up, what, 3 of the world? They view _us_ as a threat to society and want _us_ to keep to ourselves about what we think is right. I guess since it goes two ways, both sides have something valid to argue about, and _that's_ why I want to find out the absolute truth." Pikachu jumped up and started checking out the backpack behind him.

"Ugh, I don't even know why I am talking to you about this. Listen, just stay here until tonight. Make sure nobody sees you. If you are seen you will most likely be killed on the spot. I will bring you food and water before I leave today, so just sit tight until I come back." Trance opened the shed door and motioned for Pikachu to enter. "I hope you don't mind the smell of gasoline, although it isn't so bad considering I used up whatever was left of it a few days ago. I'll open up the window on the far side of the shed to give you some air." After Pikachu had walked inside, Trance closed the shed and opened the ventilation window in the back. "See you tonight," said Trance as he put the mask back on over his face and headed back towards his house. Pikachu responded with a "Pika" sound, which obviously meant something along the lines of "okay."

Trance walked in through the front of his house and into the kitchen. He was greeted by his mother, who was in the process of getting ready for the parade. "Good morning Trance. Good to see you're already up. What were you doing out back?"

Taking off the mask and throwing it in the trash can, Trance made a heavy sigh as if relieved from stressful work. "I was checking on the hornet's nest behind the shed. By the way, don't go back there, I just emptied a second can, and the bottle said to wait at least 24 hours before going near the area because the poison is so strong." Trance was quick to make up decent excuses on short notice. Although because of the situation this time around, this devious excuse was more than enough to fool his mom for a while.

"Oh, so they're still there then… well, whatever, hurry up and get ready to leave!" said Heather, who was tying her long hair back. Leaving the kitchen, she headed upstairs to her room to gather her makeup. Knowing that this was too close of a call, Trance decided to nearly forget everything about the pokémon in his shed and go along with life as if everything was normal, at least until tonight. This was not very long to keep an act going, but Trance's entire future was at stake, so every moment counted for everything.

He headed upstairs, where he prepared for the celebration. All he needed to do was change his clothing into something nice, retrieve his camera, and wash up. Since he was able to do this quickly, he had time to quickly run downstairs, grab some bread and water, and run outside and put it in the shed for Pikachu.

Knowing that he was probably seen, Trance headed back as fast as he could. Unfortunately, upon reentering the kitchen, he once again found his mom looking at him in a confused manner, saying "what is up with you and that shed this morning?" Holding out his wallet, he simply said "I dropped this outside, I just wanted to get it, is that alright with you?" Disregarding the thought that something was probably going on given the slightly worried look on Trance's face, Heather simply waved Trance aside and gathered the last of her things before heading out the door.

"I hope you know that I was waiting on your return for quite a while. I was about to leave without you." said Heather, who was walking at a brisk pace.

"I'm sorry, I got a little held up."

Since the parade was walking distance from their house, Trance, Heather, and most of the rest of the neighborhood, set out towards the nearest marked part of the parade route.

"Where did you go this morning anyway? I thought we discussed that we would be leaving around 9:00. Yet, you came back later than that! I don't know what to think, because it's not like you to do this at all, ever! I want to know what is going on Trance."

Heather was known to be one of the most punctual people in the entire town. She was incredibly strict about timeliness. She was also bent on teaching everyone, especially her own son, to be on time as often as possible. If there was one thing she hated the most in the world, it was tardiness. Trance wanted to explain himself without revealing the fact that he was actually hiding a pokémon in the back yard, but he could hardly think of anything to say at the moment.

"Can I tell you later? It's not something I want to talk about right now, with the parade going on and all." Heather just looked at Trance as if he were talking nonsense.

At this point in time, there was a large amount of people heading down the road with Trance and Heather. He knew a lot of these people from where he lived. Some were friends of the family, were from his school, and some he knew as friends with whom he spent time with outside of class. He joined up with a few of them and they conglomerated into a larger group of people. This helped him avoid having to explain himself to his mother. It was not long before Trance met up with one of his best friends, Nick Collamore, who was also walking with his mother. Pushing past the rest of the people in the group, he caught up with Nick.

"Hey you, I figured you would be coming," said Trance to Nick.

"Oh hey Trance, how's it going?" Nick was calm in his attitude as he always was. He was always decent, never showing too much emotion in whatever he did. This was one of the only times he was ever seen somewhat excited. For one thing, he was graduating with Trance in a matter of hours, but since he was always following current events, he was excited about what was happening with the parade today. He was always concerned about the progress of the nation. "Trance, did you hear? Rumor has it that your father won the tournament and is returning home with a huge announcement of success. It's supposed to be one of the biggest things in this nation's history. I'm just glad the media can actually keep a secret around here. I love the suspense."

Trance laughed. "Yea seriously, I know they do that because there are people like you who are huge supporters of this nation's ideas. They keep you in suspense so you will keep watching their reports in hopes for more information."

"They're way too damn annoying about how they go on and on about how they have the biggest stories 'coming up in a few minutes,' and all they end up doing is saying that all day long. I am so anxious to find out what really happened."

"Well yeah, don't you figure that half of the people coming to this parade would not be here if they revealed what happened on last night's news? Again, it's another stupid media advertisement thing. I'll bet there will be banners of advertisements everywhere," said Trance.

"Yes, because we _love_ advertisements. They are the centers of our lives. Hey, would you mind helping me burn them all after the parade?"

"Certainly," said Trance sarcastically.

As they continued walking, everyone was congratulating Trance, Nick and the few other graduates who happened to be around as well. Trance took these gestures lightly, as there was definitely more to come later that day. Even so, he did not take being in such a large group for granted, as being in a big group composed of graduating students made it easier for them to find a decent spot along the parade route.

The walk was short, and once everyone was able to find a seat along the route, Trance merely stood in the middle with his friends. There was a lot to talk about, and Trance was the subject of a lot of the conversations. This was mainly due to the fact that his father was coming back from the mission of peace, most likely victorious.

The main idea of this parade was to celebrate the efforts of the people who put their lives on the line for the country of Gallaway. The hunt in South Africa was one of the only recent events when the people of Gallaway have needed to risk the lives of its citizens, and since Trance's father was one of the only significant people involved, he was the main feature of the parade. Additionally, this was the first time that any country had openly supported the development of Gallaway as a nation and as a society. This was a sign to the citizens that Gallaway was taking the right approach to correcting the corrupted world.

It was not long before Trance could hear the drums of the marching band that was leading the parade. The drum cadence was followed by a glorious brass ensemble. It became apparent that the band was performing the Gallawain national anthem. Since the song was roughly three minutes long when played at the appropriate speed, there was a lot to be heard, and there was not much song repeating to be done by the marching band. Soon he could see the entire band come into view, which was in a perfect rectangular formation. To everyone's surprise, following the band was a very gothic looking float. On each corner of the float was a person standing in a wide stance hanging their heads all the way forward. One of them held a microphone, two of them had guitars, one of them had a keyboard in front of them, and in the center sat a fifth person with a drum set. After the marching band had finished playing through the anthem the first time, they repeated about ten seconds later, only this time the people on the float joined in! The screaming of electric guitars filled the air and the words to the anthem were sung by the singer on top of the float. There was a roar of applause.

"Oh my God," said Nick in amazement, "I can't believe they actually agreed to hire a metal band to play along." One of the only things that got Nick more emotional was when something incredibly unexpected like this happened. It was of course unexpected that the management of the parade had actually agreed to hire Sonata Arctica to play a metallized version of the national anthem.

"You've got to be kidding me," were the only words that could escape Trance's mouth at the sight of this. Of course, there was nothing wrong with allowing the band to play in the parade. In fact, they did an amazing job performing the song, it just seemed extremely inappropriate for such an event. This did not take away from the thunderous cheering that ensued because of the first surprise that this parade presented. Trance did not forget to snap as many pictures as he could. This was indeed a moment to remember.

Following the band was a variety of floats containing small versions of designs that were to become monuments and parts of memorials that will be set up in the local national parks. These memorials were meant to recognize those who put their lives on the line for the past wars of Gallaway, and for those who have made historical changes for the better of the nation. People began to clap and cheer at some of the designs that passed. Trance did not see his father on any of these memorials. He was not expecting there to be any at this time, because Sean had hardly done enough in his life to earn a place with the memorials. Trance only expected to see a memorial of his father sometime in his life, once he had become more accomplished.

Soon, he was able to see the last float of the parade appear, on top of which sat his father. He was surrounded by other people, many of whom had assisted him during the event, including his hunting partner. People began to cheer once more for Sean and the group of officials on the float. Trance waved to his father, who did not see him due to the enormous amount of people who were seated along the side. This did not bother Trance all too much, because he would be joining up with his father at the end of the parade regardless. He was sure to take a few pictures of his father on top of the rather plain parade float. Following the parade float was a large group of people who had taken the initiative to see the celebration at the final destination of the parade. It was there that they would announce the results of the hunt, and the future of the nation.

Once the final group had passed, people began to leave, while some joined into the crowd of people that were following the parade. The events of the parade were all the talk amongst most of the people who were leaving. He could hear people talking about how nice some of the memorial designs looked. Others were talking about how awesome the metallized version of the national anthem had been.

Nick, Trance, and Heather, along with many other people, followed the last group of the parade down the path towards the end of the route. It was rather difficult to stay together because of all the people who were trying to push past one another. Trance could hardly make out where he was headed. He could only rely on the fact that everyone was heading somewhere and that wherever he ended up, there would be tons of people around him so he would be safe. From his point of view he could only see loads of people, the sky and the buildings of the city up ahead. The crowd was soon taken to the center of the city, where the streets were lined with many buildings and offices. There was confetti and streamers flying everywhere. This was the heart of the celebration. Sonata Arctica's repeated performance could be heard up ahead as they played for everyone in this area of the city one last time.

The crowd's movement was eventually halted at the last stop. They had arrived. The crowd's noise was elevated by the excitement of everyone around him. By this time, Trance had lost sight of both his mother and Nick among the chaos of the crowd. Seeing that it was futile to try to find either of them, Trance pushed through the crowd up to the front where he could see his father disembarking the float. He saw that there was a path in the crowd cleared and roped off so that the officials on the float could approach the high-standing podium that was set up next to one of the buildings. The first person to make it to the top of the stand about ten meters high, which overlooked the entire crowd, was one of the nation's most highly regarded senators. He was the one scheduled to make the announcement.

While the announcement was being prepared, Trance made it up to the edge of the cleared path, where he saw his father walking past. Luckily, Sean only walked a few feet further before standing at the edge of the steps that led up to the podium. This gave Trance an ample opportunity to make for the edge of the roped off area closest to where Sean was standing. When he got as close as he could, he was able to reach over and tap his father on the shoulder. Apparently, security was very lenient about this, seeing as they did not feel compelled to prevent Trance from doing this. Turning around casually, Sean was able to see his son for the first time in over a month.

"Hey Trance!" he yelled over the loud roar of the crowd. He lifted up the rope and allowed Trance to slip under it, letting him to stand near his side.

"It's great to see you again, father!" said Trance excitedly.

"You too son! It's been quite a while!" They stood there chatting about how exhilarating the celebration was up to this point, and how he was happy that things were finally looking up for everyone. Finally, Sean oriented the subject to a more pressing matter. "Hey, Senator Herriman is about to make the announcement," said Sean, pointing at the senator who was standing tall and proud on the podium, "This is supposed to be a good speech. I just hope for the life of me that he says what he is supposed to."

Senator Herriman, one of the better known senators of the government, spoke with strength and dignity as he addressed the crowd before him.

"Citizens of Gallaway!" Senator Herriman was well known for over-dramatizing his speeches. That did not, however, cut back in his popularity. Most people seemed mesmerized by his speaking, which ultimately gave him favorable advantage in debates and competitions. At the sound of his voice, the crowd's volume was cut in half and further quieted in a matter of seconds. "It is my pleasure to announce the first major victory of our nation. This victory was not won through continued strife between this nation and another, rather this victory was won through expressed friendship and agreement of ideas and beliefs between two nations." People began cheering as these words emerged from Herriman.

"The victory was won because of the will and dedication of the citizens of this nation. Especially present in two specific citizens of this nation, Sean Enphernium…" There was a sudden roar of applause as Sean took his time waving to everyone in the crowd with a massive smile on his face. "…Sean Enphernium," he continued, "the head of this district's ranger department, and his most trusted assistant, Jonathon Green," there was more applause erupted from the crowd, "these two have brought with them great honor and recognition. I am proud to announce the unification of Gallaway, and two nations in Southern Africa." At this point, nobody had expected any such results to occur. They merely expected to have won the respect of another group of people in the world, a single government at least. To have encountered results involving actual conglomeration was completely unexpected.

"This merging effort, however, will not involve a complete change of the map as we know it; this will merely affect territorial possession. The two countries in Southern Africa will remain governmentally unchanged. They will merely be under the social and economic influence of our nation. This will strengthen our ideals and bring us one step closer to achieving our nation's ultimate goal." The crowd noise rose to a new level. The citizens of Gallaway had become extensively excited about the future of the nation. Sean and looked up at the senator, clearly impressed with his speech. Sean, who had known the results beforehand, merely held his silence and smiled, proud of what he had accomplished in the name of Gallaway.

"Well!" Sean finally shouted as loud as he could so Trance could hear, "I think they're happy about it!"

"_Oh my God dad that's so amazing!_" shouted Trance, completely in disbelief at what he had just heard. In Trance's mind, this was the best news he had heard in a while. Even though he was unsure whether people outside the country were willing to conform to Gallaway's ideas of how society should be run, he had come to the realization that there were other people who agreed with the idea that today's society outside of Gallaway did have its flaws. This meant that this 3 of the world that was a threat to the other 97 was in fact an unrealistic estimation. Although he felt he was beginning to understand the situation better, there were still things bothering him, such as the moral aspects of forcibly imposing one's ideas upon another. _It's okay, I will figure it all out in time_, thought Trance to himself.

Looking down the street, which was nearly empty as most of the crowd had dispersed, Trance, Heather, and Sean looked at the podium where the senator had made his extraordinary announcement. This was news that was going to change the world. In their eyes, it was a change for the better.

"I've been hearing rumors from some of my coworkers that because of this accomplishment, there are several other countries who have, in response, openly expressed support for our growing nation. I also heard that many parts of Asia want to actually merge our governments," explained Sean.

"So they like the way our government works! That's great!" exclaimed Heather.

"Well it's more than just our government; it's the way that our society functions. They are beginning to see how society in the past has had its significant advantages compared to what they have going with their…" Sean paused, "pokémon…" he hesitated to say the word. "Maybe they will begin to realize their erroneous ways, that enslaving animal after animal is wrong, and that these animals are plaguing… well you know the rest." Sean laughed, knowing that explaining himself over and over to the same people was redundant. Although it was understandable, considering he found it hard to not express himself with regards to his passion for his beliefs.

"We know, father, we've heard it before!" Trance joked.

"Think of this as one small step for Gallaway," said Sean.

"And one giant leap for our ideals! Right?" said Trance enthusiastically. Heather laughed hearing this.

"Yes, I would say that about fits," said Sean. "Alright, what do you say we head home? I'm anxious to see what has happened after all this time."

With that, Sean, Heather, and Trance made their way towards home.

**A/N: Wow, I am loving how this is turning out. I have made it about 40 through this story. I hope to get the next chapter up soon, but it may be a while. Keep checking for updates, as I plan to make this plot get very interesting. **


	7. Chapter 7: Interlude

**Chapter 7: Interlude**

_What in the world am I doing here? _Thought Pikachu, gazing at the light that peered in through a crack in the wooden wall far from the open window of the shed in which he resided. _That boy may know exactly what he is doing, and he may have the right idea, but I have no way of telling him that I cannot stay here._ Captivity was not the ideal state for Pikachu. For one thing, he was starving, and had not had much to eat other than the bread that Trance had given him. Additionally, he had no wish to stay in Gallaway for any reason, for every second he remained in the territory was a second that he put his life at risk. The shed smelled horribly of gasoline and he was unaccustomed to breathing the contaminated air. Getting used to it at a moment's notice was similar to learning how to swim while drowning; something that Pikachu had no desire to experience.

_Even after getting out of this place, there are very few options I have. I guess one thing I could do is attempt to find Ash, instead of waiting around here forever_. _What if I tried to contact some of his friends back at home and get their help?_ _The only problem is getting out of the country safely, something I have no idea how to approach. This country is incredibly hostile towards outsiders, so people will probably be reluctant to help out._ Thoughts raced through his mind. Finding an adequate solution to this problem would become extremely difficult as time went on. Pikachu continued to worry about Ash, and furthermore what would happen if he was captured. Although these were pressing matters, there was nothing he could do while trapped in the shed. The first order of business was to escape.

_ This is it; I'll have to make this escape abrupt and swift._ Pikachu had no idea how he was going to get out, considering that Trance had locked the shed doors from to prevent any people who were suspicious from casually investigating the area. The problem was, the shed could only be locked from the outside, and that caused immediate complications. The only other obvious alternative was the window that Trance had opened to provide unidirectional ventilation. Altogether, Trance had done a second-rate job at providing a place for Pikachu to stay. Although, considering the circumstances at the moment, he couldn't have come up with anything much better at such a short notice. Plus, he had saved Pikachu from almost certain extermination back at the vet; therefore Pikachu was in his debt to say the least. _Payback will have to wait for a while,_ thought Pikachu to himself as he surveyed his surroundings.

The window was easily two meters from the ground. It would usually be an easy jump for Pikachu, as his unique acrobatics far surpassed that of any normal rodent. Since Pikachu's leg was badly damaged, and full recovery would take at least another few days, he felt unconfident about making jumps of any kind. Pikachu doubted his capability to get very far in the wilds with his bad leg in the first place, but he was willing to take the risk, considering that the pros outweighed the cons. Climbing over various lawn equipment, he approached the window and looked around for something he could use as a grapple.

Various objects hung from the walls. There were saws, drills, levels, triangles, many tools used for engineering projects, and various other things, but unfortunately, rope was scarce. _Maybe I can make a stack of things to climb on_, thought Pikachu as he looked for stable objects that could be used to stack together. Of the things on the floor, he could probably only move a few of them, some of which included an empty gasoline container, a cardboard box, and a few metal rods.

Pikachu made his first escape attempt by stacking the gasoline can on top of the cardboard box. He climbed up on top of the stack and found that he was much closer to the window, and that a simple jump up to the sill would be feasible. Supporting his body on his one good leg, Pikachu made a small hop up to the window. Unfortunately, the cardboard box could not support the pressure of Pikachu's jump and collapsed, making the jump insignificant. He fell to the ground on his back and the old box was crushed under Pikachu's weight.

His second attempt was made by placing the reformed box into a position where it could hold weight better. Replacing the gasoline can on top, Pikachu climbed back on top. He attempted the same jump, but this time, the gasoline can slipped out from under him, causing him to again fall to the ground, but this time on top of his bad leg. This caused Pikachu considerable pain as he ended up bending his ankle the wrong way and opening up the wound under the bandage.

_I must persevere, I will escape!_ Pikachu brainstormed for more ideas. The walls were made of wood that was not very dense, which meant that he could easily penetrate the surface with something sharp. Then it hit him. He could take advantage of something he rarely used in his life, his claws. Pikachu never found use for these arbitrary parts of his body, as he favored electricity over physical contact in combat any day. Every path he traveled was straightforward and he usually caught a ride on Ash's head when he found a path impassable because of his size.

Pikachu had claws that were retractable, much like a cat's, so withdrawing them for the first time in a long while felt remarkably strange. Sticking his claws into the nearest wall, he found it relatively easy to keep them stuck. Confident with his rediscovered abilities, Pikachu slowly scaled the wall towards the window.

As he reached the window sill, he realized that he could probably hoist himself up if he could only grab onto the metal sill that was above him. Upon grasping the metal surface, Pikachu realized that the surface was too smooth for his claws to grasp. He lost his grip after his paw abruptly slipped from the window sill. His loss of grip of the window sill put Pikachu off balance, and he suddenly lost the grip he had with his other paw and his good leg. It was a long fall back to the floor.

Pikachu tried several different ways to get around the fact that he could not grasp the window sill with his claws neither extended nor retracted. He tried climbing along the side of the window, even swinging himself out the window from above, but his injured leg kept him from moving himself properly, and every time he tried something, he failed. Every failure led to a fall which hurt him further. It was not long before Pikachu became so frustrated with his condition that he simply gave up. He was in absolute disbelief that he could not manage to take care of himself in this situation.

Because of the stress he was putting on his wound, it was not long before blood began sapping through the bandage. He had cut his paws in various places on the metal windowsill. Pikachu beat his fist into the wooden floor, with blood marking the places where he had struck. He eventually collapsed onto the floor.

_This is absolutely ridiculous. I should be able to do this. I've suffered injuries far worse than this, and I have made good of those situations more often than not._ Frustrated to the point of tears, Pikachu thought about what he could do as an alternative to escaping. There had to be another way to get out than through the window. Pikachu was aware that there was more gasoline in the shed than Trance had originally predicted. Apparently somebody had recently restocked the gasoline and oil supply. Knowing that emitting any kind of electrical charge would surely blow the shed to bits, Pikachu discarded any violent means of escape.

Finally admitting defeat, Pikachu curled up next to the battered cardboard box. _Maybe it won't be so bad living with this Trance character for a while, assuming he comes back for me. I don't even know where I am, where he is, or when he should be coming back. It could be days! If this is the case, I'll be in here for as long as it takes me to naturally heal._ Unable to nap because of the increased pain his failed escape attempts caused him, Pikachu had little choice but to endure the injuries for the time being. His worries brought no boost to his morale, so there was little he could do to make himself feel better. In attempt to distract himself from the pain, he thought of Ash, and he thought of what he always loved to do, bring pride to his name through the countless victories battle had brought him. Unfortunately, his reminiscence did not bring him any solace from the pain. He began to think of ways he would reunite himself with his closest friend.

_There's got to be something I can do! He could be anywhere in this country. For all I know he has been arrested and taken into custody, or detained by the military and sent to a detainee prison. I don't know the first thing about getting to any of those places, and this is assuming he was captured! If he's still out there, he has no way to get here! What if he ran back home? What if I'll never be able to reach him again?_

This sudden change in his lifestyle that originated from his venture into Gallawain territory hit him hard, and it seemed that all he could do was let life go by. Thoughts raced though his mind. The overwhelming pain did not seem to numb. Worried, alone, injured, tired, and hungry with no guarantee that he would get food and water any time soon, Pikachu lost all hope in being able to move on in life. Fatigue poisoned his mind. He could no longer think clearly. Depressed as he was, Pikachu managed to find sleep amongst his conscious thoughts.

Sleep was the only medicine for Pikachu now. To become physically and emotionally healed, he would have to wait for Trance's return.


	8. Chapter 8: On the Run

**Chapter 8: On the Run**

At this point in time, authorities all over Gallaway were on the lookout for Ash. He had been on the run all afternoon, and by now had completely lost himself in the forested areas. He was easily a few kilometers away from the nearest town. Additionally, he was quite fatigued, which meant that he would have to find some way to get out of Gallaway soon, or he would not be able to make it.

Ash had been running nonstop for quite a while, and had not seen anyone since he had left the city. He figured he could stop for a quick break. Sitting down on a nearby rock, Ash contemplated the situation he was currently in. He was now completely out in the open, clueless as to where he was. Ash had left most of his gear behind in the veterinary clinic, back where he had little time to prepare for an escape. If he had made an attempt to make off with his gear, he would have most likely been captured.

And now Pikachu was gone as well. With Pikachu by his side, he would have at least had a chance to stay fed, as they had developed a very useful hunting strategy that involved both of them making full use of their abilities. In his current situation, he had very few options left. Knowing that times were now incredibly desperate, Ash withdrew one specific gadget from the inside of his jacket.

Ash had not once had a chance to set up a remote connection to the RPR system (Remote Pokémon Retrieval). All along he had carried the device in case of emergency. The pokéreciever, a new technology only recently developed, was an advanced communications device that allowed the user to contact any compatible storage facility and instantly fill up or empty the six-member pokémon party, or even swap out members instantaneously. Ash had never planned on using this, but knew that there was always a risk of such an event happening where he would be attempting to run for his life from pursuing rangers or Gallawain law enforcement.

The receiver was no larger than an ordinary cell phone. The base was set up on top of a small tripod that extended from the underside of the device. In order to make a successful connection, Ash would have to make sure that the device was stable and secure for the entire time that the transfer was in progress. Placing the device on a nearby rock that served as a flat service, Ash typed in his login information and proceeded to connect to the system.

There was a slight wait before a connection to be established. This was to be expected, considering that he was deep into the forest, with tall trees surrounding him for distances unimaginable. Taking a deep breath, Ash proceeded to browse through the selection of pokémon available to him. He had to make his choice quickly, for he had a limited time before he was surely to be spotted. Ash repeatedly clicked the "next" button on the device to make sure he knew exactly what he had available to him.

Meanwhile:

"Boss, I've got something!"

"Let's hear it."

"I've picked up a wireless signal coming from inside the coordinate range you wanted me to scan. Do you think it's him?"

"Based on the location, I would have to say it is. Good work soldier!" A few seconds passed. "Send the fifth infantry battalion. They'll make short work of him."

Finishing his selection about five minutes into his session, five pokéballs appeared in front of Ash.

"Hopefully you guys can help me out," said Ash as he shut off the receiver. The battery was now completely drained, so he could not use it again to change his mind. Suddenly, there was a rumble behind him and a loud whirling sound above him. Peeking through the thick canopy formed by the trees, Ash made out a large helicopter passing overhead. Looking behind himself, he saw agents passing through the canopy, who had apparently made low altitude jumps from the helicopter. They landed a few hundred meters behind Ash's location. Picking up his pokéballs and attaching them to his belt, he shot up and made a mad dash in the opposite direction of the agents.

He heard shouts behind him, and he felt impact rounds rip the air past his face. Ash narrowly missed jumping over a root in the ground as he ran as fast as he could through the forest.

Ash had no idea where he was going, or how he would keep himself away from the agents long enough to get out of the Gallawain territory. He had no chance of finding his way back to Trance's house to pick up Pikachu, so he would have to wait until he could safely sneak back into the land after escaping before he could rescue him. First thing's first, however; he had to escape this situation with his life before he could conjure up further plans.

Knowing that this could very well be his final moments of life, Ash instinctively acted by grabbing one of the balls from his belt.

"Wheezing! I need a smokescreen for cover, get moving!" shouted Ash, throwing the pokéball from his grasp towards the pursing agents. To Ash's surprise, the agents held back nothing. They stopped pursuing, and held their position. One of them aimed some projectile weapon that, when fired, emitted a large amount of flak that easily covered Ash's throwing trajectory. The flak quickly struck the pokéball, causing it to explode in midair.

Nearly screaming in fright and panic, Ash whirled around and continued to dash in the direction he was heading before. Smiling, the agent with the flak rifle calmly shouldered the weapon and the team reformed and continued their pursuit.

_These guys are merciless. They'll stop at nothing to exterminate me! Even if it means killing my pokémon! This is insane!_ Ash became incredibly regretful for summoning his pokémon. Although, considering the circumstances, he had least expected the immediate result. He had thrown away the life of one of his most trusted allies. This was something he never wanted to go through, especially now, when he could least afford the losses. He had already lost Pikachu through a series of unfortunate events, and had little chance at getting him back, and now he lost one of his more recent friends. Ash's morale began to sink.

Now he had only a little amount of time left before he was captured, as the agents were gaining on him quickly. He would be overcome in a matter of minutes if he did not do something fast. As luck would have it, he soon came upon a rock formation in the middle of the forest that looked nearly impassable. This formation was a wall that stretched in either direction for too long of a distance for Ash to run around if her were to escape. Fortunately, it was only a few meters tall, which meant that it would be an obstacle for the agents with all of that gear if he were able to climb over it. Ash made a jump to grab the top of the wall. He was able to grasp the top of part of the wall and pull himself up. Ash spied the agents coming up to his location. They were close enough at this point to easily pick him off with a handgun. To Ash's surprise, yet again, they did not seem intent on doing this.

Ash quickly ran in the other direction, and shortly came to the edge of the rock formation. It was an equal distance to jump down and continue. Hopefully he could find some means of escape as the agents made efforts to cross the wall. Ash jumped to the ground, tucked, and rolled to keep from breaking anything. Springing up, he dashed to the left, looking for a place to hide. Any medium-sized crevice would have done nicely. After a few more seconds of running, he spotted a narrow opening in the rocks. If he could make it there before the agents saw what he was up to, he could possibly evade them long enough to get another summon started.

Ash dashed for the crevice. He squeezed himself through the opening in the rocks as he saw the same agent jump down from the formation. The opening allowed him to move several meters into the rock formation. He was well hidden and did not expect that the agents would see his hiding place until they surveyed the area completely.

Soon, there was a thud on the ground further down the path, and then another one back in the direction from whence Ash came. In effect, he was surrounded, but hopefully not to any degree in which the ones surrounding him actually knew they were doing so. Ash could easily observe the rest of the agents form up and begin scouting the area. The leader began instructing the rest of the agents. "He's probably hiding somewhere around here. Check around the trees, and check for cracks in the rocks. We'll get him soon enough." The leader then muttered something into his radio, and the agents immediately spread out. One of the agents began heading in the direction of Ash's hiding place.

There was hardly anything he could do at this moment. Pretty much anything he did would surely result in his immediate death. _There's got to be something!_ Ash frantically searched for something he could do, either as a distraction, or as an immediate means of escape. There was not much available, only cover from the rocks guaranteed his immediate survival, but it would not last for long, as the agent was fast approaching. Ash continued to stay as quiet as possible, but despite his uncomfortable position, he shuffled to shift his weight. Suddenly, the pursuing agent halted.

_Great, I'll bet he spotted me._

The agent took two more steps forward.

_No, he is just meticulously observing his surroundings… nothing to be afraid of…_

He took a couple more steps.

_He's not stopping! He's going to spot me!_

Another step…

_What the hell! I can't tell what he's doing!_

One more step…

_He's spotted me for sure by now! What am I doing sitting around!_

It was as if Ash was too petrified to move. He wanted to, but he knew that he couldn't. Soon the agent was right outside the crevice. If he just turned his head to the left, he would be looking right at Ash. "Hmm," said the agent.

_Wow, screw this. I have nothing left to lose. I'm flying out of here!_ Ash reached for a second pokéball on his belt. _I have once chance at getting this right…_ Ash rolled the ball out of the crack. It rolled out towards where the agent was standing. It stopped right in front of his feet.

"What?" the agent jumped back in surprise as the ball burst open.

Right then, a gigantic bird emerged from the ball, throwing the nearby guard about ten meters back into a jumble. The bird was easily as tall as the rock formation itself. As the bird emerged, it seemed to immediately understand the situation, so it let out a magnificent scream unheard by any common bird. The effect that the sight and sound that this glorious bird had on the agents was as if Ash had thrown a flash grenade in place of one of his most trusted pokémon. The agents were taken aback, caught off guard; they were thrown to the ground because of the massive disruption that had occurred when Pidgeot had emerged from captivity.

"Go!" Ash immediately left his hiding place and jumped onto the back of Pidgeot.

"There he is! Don't let him get the best of you! Pursue him!"

By the time the agents got to their feet and attempted to stop Ash's escape, Ash had already taken off with Pidgeot. One of the agents fired stray bullets, but they were all futile shots, as they either missed, or failed to penetrate the resilient feathers of Pidgeot's wings.

Ash soared through the thick canopy on the back of Pidgeot. He left the agents in his wake.

"Awesome job, Pidgeot!" Ash cheered with relief that he may be able to get back home in one piece after all. "Oh, I'm sorry I haven't been around to let you out, I got a little caught up." Pidgeot let out a squawk that sounded as if it was accepting Ash's apology.

On top of this massive bird, Ash felt like he owned the world. Though it may seem obsessive, he had a good reason to feel this way. The wind was ripping past his face at tremendous speed, and after a few moments, he could see the farthest horizons. If he were to ride this bird and let it travel naturally, he could arrive home in a matter of minutes. The bird on which he rode typically could travel at speeds faster than sound, however, because of the stress that this would have on his body, he would be torn apart instantly. Ash was sure to have Pidgeot travel at a safe enough speed.

The only problem here was that there were now fighter aircraft on Pidgeot's tail that could easily travel faster than the speed of sound with no trouble. Aware of the aircraft that was now pursuing them, Ash instructed Pidgeot to act on its own instinct and attempt to outmaneuver the aircraft as best it could.

_Fighting it would be useless! They would be sure to find some way to interrupt Pidgeot's attack before Pidgeot could prepare something while attempting to keep me on! I'm not risking his life too!_

In a matter of seconds, there were three jet fighters and one helicopter in hot pursuit. Pidgeot, anticipating the missiles that were suddenly heading straight for them, rolled to the side and made a hard right, flying perpendicular to the original flight path. Unexpectedly, the missiles mocked Pidgeot's maneuver and adapted. They were back on track.

"_Pidgeot, can you dive into the canopy?_" shouted Ash in panic. The missiles were flying at least twice as fast as Ash and Pidgeot, so they had little time to react. Pidgeot responded affirmatively, and made a valiant dive. Soon they were flying under the cover of the trees. Ash could see a massive explosion emanate far behind them. _They're not going to try that again! They'll have more than a forest fire to deal with if they do!_ Feeling it was safe to emerge from the forest, Pidgeot made a sharp maneuver, and they were back above the trees once more. The pursuers had not lost sight of Ash and Pidgeot.

Suddenly, two of the jets accelerated at such a speed that they passed Ash and Pidgeot in no time at all. When the two jet fighters were about three kilometers ahead of Ash and Pidgeot, the jets made a quick loop around and headed straight for them. Both fighters emitted some kind of laser beam that narrowly missed them had Pidgeot not avoided them. The jet fighters zoomed past Ash and Pidgeot, who were now flying at such a speed that Ash thought his face would rip off.

"You can't hit this!" Ash taunted. He reminded Pidgeot that he could not handle the speed at which they were flying, and it immediately slowed down to a safer speed. The pilots of the jets seemed to hear what Ash had said and then seen what he had done. They immediately formed up and surrounded Ash from three sides. Catching a glance of one of the cockpits, Ash saw the pilot flick him off. The pilot then flew ahead of him and kept a steady lead. The other two fighters formed a triangular shape around Ash and Pidgeot. Pidgeot let out a cry of frustration.

Immediately following the formation, two more fighters came out of nowhere and surrounded Ash on the left and right.

"What are they doing?" shouted Ash. Pidgeot squawked something back at him. Pidgeot was about to make a maneuver where it would reverse direction by flipping backward, but as it was about to do this, all five jet fighters focused a unified beam, similar to what he had seen before, in Ash and Pidgeot's general direction. The beam, coming from five different directions, had not missed its target. It interrupted Pidgeot's maneuver, and before Ash knew it, the gigantic bird on which he rode had completely vaporized in a flurry of colorful, explosive light.

In extreme panic, Ash began to fall back towards the ground. He hit the canopy hard. It broke his fall, but he still fell at incredible speed. It was not long before Ash hit the ground. Ash made every attempt to make the fall as harmless as possible, but was not successful. He hit the ground and bounced once, twice, three times before his entire body slid into a large tree.

The impact had not killed Ash, but he was badly scraped, bruised, and cut all over his body. His clothes were torn to shreds, and he lost half of what he was carrying from the fall. Whatever electronic devices that he had left, including his remaining pokéballs, were completely destroyed. He could not move from the pain, and could barely open his eyes. He felt he was going to go blind from the damage done to his face.

It wasn't ten minutes before five or six infantry units surrounded Ash and had their assault rifles pointed at his head.

"Don't move! Whatever you do! Do _not_ move!" said one of the infantry.

"You dipshit! He couldn't move if he had a choice!" said another.

"Daaaamn! Kid, you pulled some impressive stuff back there! But just keep in mind, you were _owned_ by Gallaway's fifth infantry battalion!" said the first one.

"Man, shut up Joe! I think he's well aware!"

"Cut the chatter, men!" said a further off voice. Ash could hear rough footsteps approach his position. Struggling to open his eyes, he could see a rugged man who was apparently higher rank than the rest of them. He was tall, bald, and incredibly bold looking. He pushed one of the infantry aside and stepped over Ash, who looked extremely pathetic, lying on the ground as he was. The officer, who had a cigarette in his mouth, took it and flicked it aside as if incredibly irritated.

"Another kid? What the hell is this?" He leaned over and took a closer look at Ash. "You certainly look like one of them. You're the third one this month. I'm beginning to think the boss was right, we are being spied on… pathetic… is this the best that the UNG can send in? I almost feel insulted."

Ash struggled to respond. "You… bastard… you killed…"

The officer just looked at him in disgust. He stood back up and turned his back to Ash. "Take him in. We'll get him to tell us what the government is up to…" He withdrew a radio from his belt clip. "He's alive, boss, and I'm sending him in."

One of the infantry lifted Ash off the ground by what remained of his shirt. Ash felt something hit him hard on the back of his head. All was dark.


	9. Chapter 9: Trance's Responsibilities

**Chapter 9: Trance's Responsibilities**

It had only been half of a day since Trance's miniature adventure. At this point in time, it was at the back of his mind, while all of his attention was focused on his graduation and on his father's return home. It was as if he had completely forgotten all about what had happened. His lack of remembrance was short lived. The Enpherniums, excited about the recent events, were engaged in vigorous conversation about how things had been going for everyone, what was looking up, what everyone was looking forward to, etc. The walk back home was a pleasant one.

When Trance, Sean, and Heather arrived at the house, Sean couldn't help but be over-gleeful about how long it had been since he was last there.

"I must say, it looks just as I remember it. Not much has changed. I guess it hasn't been all that long… but still, it's great to be back again!" Trance and Heather agreed, and they headed inside. Trance walked through the kitchen towards the living room, but while on the way, remembered how hungry he was. This triggered a sudden worry; he had forgotten to leave his guest in the shed a decent amount of food. What if he had no opportunity to see him tonight? He suspected that Pikachu would make every effort to escape, thinking that he had been forgotten. After all, why should he trust some random person who happened to be in the right place at the right time? There was nothing he could do about it now, so he decided to wait until he could steal a few moments of alone time to take care of his new responsibility.

Upon entering their living room, Sean took a place on the sofa and kicked back. He had missed the comfort of his own home, having been away for so long. Heather joined him, and Trance found a place on the adjacent recliner.

"Any current events I should know about?" said Sean, kissing his wife on the nose.

"Well, turn on the news! I haven't been keeping up with it, so I'm just as curious as you. Plus, I think Diane and Tom's show is just about to start." responded Heather, running a finger up Sean's chest. Sean smiled, grabbed the remote to his massive fifty-inch LCD television, turned it on, and flipped to the local news channel. On screen was a brown haired man in a blue suit, speaking semi-enthusiastically about the local events. In the upper right hand corner of the screen was a frame focused on the empty streets of the parade route, a complete disaster.

"… as you can see, the streets are now completely empty, and total mess, as the crowds have retreated back to their homes in celebration. We have Senator Herriman to thank for that, as his overwhelming enthusiasm about the most recent events attracted people all over Gallaway to come and hear his speech. For those of you unsocial losers who missed it, Herriman not too long ago finished up a speech that, to sum it up in a nutshell, our country is pretty much taking over the world!"

"You said it Tom, this country is so imperialistic… right. In other unrelated news, we have gotten reports of a one-man invasion force who was apparently attempting to take over a veterinary clinic. Who knows what this person was up to? I sure don't. That's why we have Latino Reporter José Javier down at the scene. José?" The screen flipped to a familiar scene.

"Thank you Diane, I am standing here in front of the capital city's veterinary clinic, where several arrests have been made regarding suspected collaboration with foreigners. Officials have been here all day questioning witnesses about the incident this morning. Ha! They missed Herriman's speech, I mock them openly! Not what you expected from a typical an invasion, BUT, we have enough information from witnesses to believe that there was indeed an incident involving pokémon earlier this morning. You want a full report? Here it comes!" A childishly drawn picture of a veterinary clinic and several armed men chasing two boys appeared on the screen. "This is my interpretation of what happened. According to reports from the National Intelligence Agency, one young man about the age of seventeen spent the night at this very veterinary clinic, only to be caught that morning by two NID agents, where they chased the boy and another civilian out of the clinic. Following was a _very_ exciting chase scene that all of you action lovers out there would love to view. Here are a few screenshots of what police recorded." A few blurry shots of the sky appeared on the screen. "Too bad for you, because you won't get to see the actual chase scene until later tonight, when we add _tons_ of special effects to make it interesting… wait.. what? Hey, you all are in luck, apparently nothing is being modified, and you'll all get to see it on "Wild Police Chases," coming up after the news! Isn't that just great?" A PIP showing Diane appeared in the upper left corner of the screen. "Get on to the point please, José!" said Diane. The PIP flickered off. "Oh, yes, and there have been no arrests made for the second boy who may or may not be involved with this incident. As of now, we have no idea as to who this boy is or how he is related to the incident at hand. We will continue to monitor this situation as it unfolds." Suddenly, a hand appeared from the side of the screen, and handed a bag to José.

"I have here what witnesses claim to be the sunglasses of the boy involved in this incident. I do say, they are fine looking sunglasses too." José reached into the bag, whipped out Trance's sunglasses, and put them on over his regular glasses. "Oh my, they look so good on me, don't they?" José started placing himself into various sexy poses. Trance couldn't help but choke on his soda as he saw this. The camera then shifted away and focused on the scene. "Wait! I'm sorry! Ah!" Jose appeared out of focus back on the screen. The camera returned its focus back onto José. There was a good bit of laughter from the background. Heather and Sean were both laughing at José's ridiculous act.

"So, anyway, the investigation's department will be doing research as to the owner of these sunglasses. I don't see how they're going to succeed, what with the fact that I smeared tons of my very own DNA and fingerprints ALL over these things." José started rubbing the rims of the sunglasses. He then put them back in the bag and tossed it to the nearest police officer. "Good luck with that sir!" Trance nearly choked again, hoping his parents did not realize whose sunglasses those really belonged to.

The screen flickered back to Diane, who had a smirk on her face. "Honestly, I don't know how Latino Reporter José Javier still has his job. I don't think Tim does either," she said. Tom responded with "hey! I think I can speak for myself!" Diane looked in his general direction. "…" She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped, shook her head and continued. "We will return after a word from out wonderful sponsors, who pay us to play their silly skits." The camera slowly zoomed out to where you could see Tom, who had a pair of underwear on his head, followed by a set of commercials.

"I wish Tom would be less random. He thinks he's funny when he's not most of the time…" said Heather.

"Yeah, well he's done this for too long; I think he's running out of jokes…"

"Change it to the weather channel. I want to see the weather for now." Sean agreed and flipped the channel. Trance got up. "You two enjoy yourselves, I'm going outside to see if Nick has come back yet."

"Okay, honey, be back in an hour, we're leaving for that graduation with or without you."

Trance quickly grabbed some bread and a water bottle from the refrigerator, and headed for the door. He had every intention to get back his sunglasses, one way or another, but he also had to take care of Pikachu. He decided to do that first, because he might need some time to get back his sunglasses. An hour was hardly enough to pull off anything, but he had to do something soon. He did not want the authorities to stumble over the details that pointed in his direction, then come to his house and confront his parents. The worst that could happen would be for his parents to go digging for the truth and eventually find out the real truth behind this whole thing, about his thoughts towards society. This whole thing could turn into a disaster.

Trance reached for the door. He opened it and dashed out, only to run straight into Nick.

"Trance! Hey! I was just looking for you!" Nick had a look of extreme excitement on his face. There was no mistaking it, he had definitely accomplished something. Nick always had these kinds of looks on his face and upbeat attitude when he accomplished something.

"Hey dude. What's up?" Trance asked casually, although irritated because of the very untimely manner at which Nick showed up.

"Trance, oh man! You have to see this! I finally finished the schematic for my new invention. I got all of the circuits laid out and everything! It's quite a work of art if I do say so myself!" Trance followed Nick out onto the porch. There was nothing he would want more at this point than to completely avoid Nick. Not only were every single one of his so called "inventions" pointless at heart, but every single one of them were derivations of some already existing, and better devices. Although his ideas were solid, and had rather good intentions, most of his major works could never get off the ground.

Trance walked with Nick out onto his lawn. "Listen, Nick, I was just about to head out to do something. I really have to go—"

"Nonsense!" Nick grabbed Trance by the arm and effectively dragged him across the street to his house. Trance barely had time to throw down the bread and water onto his porch.

"Nick! I'm serious! It's very important!"

"This will only take a second!" Trance had no choice. He did not want to let down his friend. If it was not going to take long, then it would probably do no harm. Trance followed Nick into his house. They tore across the house and into the basement where Nick had an entire workshop set up. Nick was one of those people who loved making things. Nick centered his life on little devices that he made. Trance kept thinking that Nick would eventually become extremely famous for his work, for he had a very good grasp on what he did, and could accomplish all sort of things with the knowledge he had. The only reason he took classes at the ranger school with Trance was because some of them were required to get into the advanced studies program which he was applying for. The way he was going, he was bound to get in easily. He had a lot going for him.

"Okay, get this. I was walking home from the parade, thinking about what I could do to get this last bit working correctly, and all of a sudden it hit me. I rushed home, fixed up my plan, rewired the device, modified the programming, and viola! In a matter of minutes, I had a working prototype!" Nick uncovered a large terminal consisting of a keyboard, a screen and a medium sized radar dish attached to the top. It was all put together in an arcade machine-like enclosure.

"Um okay… what did you manage to fabricate this time?" Trance walked up to the device and quickly looked over it.

"In a nutshell, it's a bio-essence scanner. I can input a set of data containing the physical composure of any organism, down to the cellular level, and this specially modified radar detects any nearby organism that has a composure matching the data."

"Interesting…"

"Neat huh? I got the idea from one of our science labs, where we were using radars to scan for objects in the room. This is a much more complicated version of it, but I think it will work out just fine."

"… and why would anyone need this? Assuming it even works…"

"Think about it! It's made to help people like you! I specifically designed it to make your job easier. Rangers could go around and find pokémon in a snap! We can keep our environment safe from them with much more ease than ever before. Here, let me show you!" Nick flipped on a switch. "Let's see, I'll put in the molecular composition of my dog." Nick typed in a few things which Trance could hardly decipher. A few seconds later, the screen showed an image of Nick's house from above, and a highlighted outline of Nick's dog lying on the floor showed up as well.

"Wow, that's incredible!" Trance exclaimed.

"Yeah, there's quite a few bugs to work out. For instance, it only works with a few animals, like my dog, and sometimes it distorts wireless frequencies over certain channels. Well, it burned out my laptop's wireless card when I was testing it earlier on. I need to get more data and get my rudimentary AI to adapt to the data as well. It may be a few weeks before I can get everything I need."

Trance was thoroughly impressed. For once, Nick had completed something revolutionary. Then he was struck with horror. Trying to hide his emotion, Trance backed away. The realization of what Nick could do with this device hit him hard. All Nick had to do was accidentally scan Trance's yard for anything resembling a pokémon and he would find Pikachu. It was only a matter of time before Nick acquired the data that allowed him to do this. He would be doomed.

"Hey, let's try scanning the whole neighborhood! I'll try a very general scan so I can collect data."

What absolutely horrible luck! "Um, Nick, you should be careful with that. My parents just installed a new home-integrated wireless system in the house. You never know, you might end up blowing up our entire house."

Nick looked at Trance for a few seconds. "Oh, right. I might have to modify the frequency settings so as not to interfere with anything like that. Well, anyway, here, I'll let you go. I'll let you know when I make more progress."

"Okay, see you, and good luck." Although he really had no desire to see this device finished until he could get rid of the Pikachu in his back yard, Trance had to cover up any such intention so as not to look too awkward. Trance rushed out of the house, glad that he had made it a point that what Nick was doing was actually rather dangerous. He could end up crashing entire wireless networks with his new invention. At this point, Trance had wasted too much time with Nick, and hardly had anytime to take of what he originally wanted to do. With everything that he had to get done, and with all of the newly discovered risks involved, Trance realized that he had gotten himself into a much bigger mess than he originally intended.

Trance decided to first get done what was absolutely necessary, and that was to rush back home and get Pikachu the food and water. As he headed back across his lawn, Heather popped out of the front door. "Trance! We're going to leave early. We have to go pick up some people on the way!"

"What! Oh come on, I'm in the middle of something!" Trance was now thoroughly ticked off. He could not get done what he needed to get done. Trudging across the remainder of the lawn, Trance approached his mother.

"Don't give me that tone mister! I've got every reason to help these people! Their car broke down and they need to get to the ceremony just as badly as we do. Now come on, hurry up!"

Trance sighed. "How long do I have?"

"We're leaving as soon as you and your father get in the appropriate clothes for this event. Get upstairs, or we'll certainly be late."

Trance tossed aside the food, and in a frustrated manner, headed up to his room to get changed.

It was not as if Pikachu was going to be going anywhere anyway, and even though Trance was sure that it could live a while without food. Pikachu would just have to wait until later tonight.

_Where the hell is this guy! I can't wait around here forever!_

Pikachu was curled up in a ball, starving from his lack of food, and nauseated from his physical exertions and lack of water. He had not nourished himself since the night before, when the veterinarian had given him specialized food for helping pain and the recovery process. On top of that, he had not been in contact with anyone since early this morning. The loneliness was beginning to get to him. It was like being in an isolation chamber for the mentally instable, but with windows instead. Even so, there was little he could do but wait.

The night flew by faster than Trance had initially expected. The ceremony had consisted of a glorious ensemble of black-robed young adults in square hats. The gathering consisted of the 300 student graduating class and the 2,000 parents and relatives of the graduates. The ceremony progressed as one would expect from any normal graduation ceremony. The only difference was that each and every one of these students became full fledged higher-ups in society the second they received their diploma, which was accompanied with the ranger certification papers and the official badge, plated in 24 carat gold. From that point on, each student had the power of any law enforcement agent, the clearance to most of the nation's secrets, but most of all, the pride that they were in fact ready to take on the world. Along with these great standings in society came great responsibility, which Trance was ready to take on as one of the greatest burdens of his life. Upon receiving this award, Trance felt a sudden sense of accomplishment. He was ready to take life by the reigns and fly.

The night was soon over. Trance and his friends broke up towards the end of the reception to head home. Soon, they would be taking on graduate study, where their real field work would begin.

As Trance and his parents left the reception, they were stopped in the dark parking lot by an official-looking black man. He was wearing a suit and dark sunglasses (yes at night), which gave him a mysterious aspect which paralleled that of a secret service agent. The man approached Trance specifically, saying "we have an assignment for you, Tertiary Ranger Trance Enphernium."

"Trance, this is Dante, one of my department's head officers. He oversees official business within our department," started Sean. Trance quickly saw what was going on.

"Yeah, and by the looks of it, someone wants me right away."

"No better timing than right after everything has been made official," said Sean.

"Take this, it's the unofficial copy of the assignment. I trust that you will not let this information leave your household. Please take care in doing so. That is all." With that, Dante vanished in the blink of an eye. Trance was the only one who seemed startled.

"Oh, what a silly man. Dante likes to make flashy exits. It's alright, he's simply walking away." Sean continued leading Trance and Heather to the location where he had parked.

Trance had not realized until now that this new form of business meant that he would be dealing with things he had never known to exist before. Things such as stealth camouflage technologies and secret operations. Thinking the possibilities over and over through his mind, he made it a point to open the assignment as soon as he got into the car.

"Trance," started Heather as they entered the car, "I believe we forgot to mention this to you, but now that you've become someone you've always wanted to be, a fully functional and especially responsible member of society, we've decided to leave you the house for the week." Hearing this, Trance was instantly confused.

"Oh, right! The cruise!" exclaimed Sean. Trance suddenly knew what they were talking about.

"Let me guess, in celebration of your arrival back home, but more importantly your victory in South Africa?" Trance stated.

"Right on, and we're leaving tomorrow morning!"

"Gee, thanks for the advanced notice." Sean and Heather laughed, but were not at all sorry for not letting Trance know so late. Although, the idea was more of a spontaneous one; they had decided earlier that day.

Trance was nowhere near as despaired as he meant to portray. He was incredibly relieved to know that he will now have some quiet time to himself. This also meant that he could now get done all of the investigating and research he had wanted to do for quite some time, especially regarding this whole fiasco between Ash, Pikachu, and the Gallaway authorities.

The ride home consisted of joyful conversation about what lied ahead for each of them. Trance had opened his assignment and read it aloud. It was a direct order from the President. It stated that he would attend an advanced military training camp on a day by day basis for the next two weeks, during which he would prepare himself for a future undisclosed mission that would be revealed to him near the end of his training. This announcement excited Trance, as this was exactly what he was looking forward to as a newly established ranger of Gallaway.

Upon their arrival at home, Heather gathered herself inside the house and headed straight for bed.

"What's the rush?" asked Trance

"You know how I said we're leaving tomorrow morning?" said Sean. "Well by that I meant we leave at 4am. So as you can imagine, we need as much sleep as we can get."

Trance sighed. "I guess I'll have to get up early too, just to see you off."

"If you wish, you can." Sean smiled and headed upstairs to join his wife in bed.

_This is going to be interesting._ Trance waited until his father was in his room before he dexterously made his way to the door and out to the front of his yard. To his pleasure, he had completely avoided his parents with no disruptions. There was nothing stopping him now.

Trance headed towards the back of his yard in complete darkness and utter silence and over to the shed. Trance glanced around to make sure he was unseen. He opened the lock and quietly opened the door. As dark as it was outside, he could still see the little yellow ball of fluff curled up inside the shed. Feeling weird about what he was about to do, Trance stepped inside and crouched beside his guest. He reached a hand over to Pikachu. Feeling something strange touch his side, Pikachu jumped out of its sleep and made a yelp in fright. Half turned over with a look of fear on his face, sparks emitted from all of Pikachu's body, producing an eerie glow around him.

"Hey, it's me!" Trance whispered, trying to hush the startled Pikachu.

Now awake enough to realize what was going on, Pikachu's expression changed from a look of fear to one of relief. Taking a deep breath, he slowly stood up.

Trance was very unsure of what to do at this point. After all, he had never personally handled any pokémon before, not even a pet of his own, so his ability to effectively communicate with non-human beings was rather limited.

"Um… here? boy?" Trance did not know what he was doing at all. Before leaving Pikachu the first time, he had simply spoken his mind to this animal, not expecting any actual response, or for his words to actually accomplish anything other than relieve himself of the stressful situation he was in. It was more of a situation where he was venting than anything else. Now, he actually had to get somewhere with it, meaning he had to take steps to get it to understand what he wanted from it, and to understand what it wanted from him.

Pikachu sensed this instantly, that Trance was uncomfortable speaking to an unfamiliar kind of animal, not knowing what to expect from it at all. Making it easier for both of them, he walked up to Trance and, making no more than a couple of sounds and motions, made an assertion that yes, it was okay that he was gone for so long, and that he was glad that he was finally back.

"Hum, I don't know how to say this, but… here, I have some food and water inside. If you really want, I can take you inside now, because my parents will be leaving in a few hours. I'm sure you don't want to stay outside any more do you?" Pikachu affirmatively responded.

Trance was taken by surprise. "Wow, so you understand me?" Pikachu affirmatively responded again. "… that's crazy. If you can understand me, why can't you at least talk back?" Pikachu smiled and shook his head, as if what Trance was suggesting was utterly ridiculous.

"Heh, well, that really isn't important, but still… come with me, you can get some food and water inside if you want." He laughed. "Although I bet you've been starving this whole time haven't you?" Pikachu affirmatively responded again. "I'm sorry, I should have left you something, but I was in such a rush…" Trance didn't finish. There was little he could do to make this situation better than to get Pikachu insi

"Wow, this is going to be easier than I thought. Um, here, can you walk?"

Concluding that Pikachu was still recovering from its injuries, he decided to carry Pikachu inside. It was critical that nobody saw him at this point. It would all be over if he was caught. He was careful to use the darkness to his advantage on his way inside. He also made sure he did not wake his parents as he made his way to his room.

Now a little more comfortable with how he spoke to Pikachu, Trance advised Pikachu to stay out of sight in his room until later that morning. Once his parents were gone, he could pretty much roam the house as he pleased, as long as he stayed out of sight for visitors and away from the windows.

Trance saw that his parent's away time would really let up on some of his problems. For one, he could go wherever he needed to go no questions asked. This would be especially useful later that day, when he would set out to find Pikachu's owner. If what the news said was correct, and assuming that this guy was not dead from the chase, then he would most likely be in the national prison. He would have to go there and somehow investigate what had happened. If he could at least get in contact with this guy, all the while maintaining minimal conflict with the authorities, then he might be able to at least stabilize the situation at hand. Unfortunately, conflict seemed inevitable at this point, so Trance had to think carefully about how to approach this situation. Regardless, it would be an adventure unlike any other he had experienced so far.

**A/N: OKAY! That's all for chapter 9. I'm glad I'm still able to progress on this.** **Don't worry everyone, my work is not totally killing me! Only mostly… at this point, don't expect another chapter up for about a week, BUT! You can at least expect a very enjoyable action-packed, drama-filled, uber-suspenseful chapter next time around!**


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